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SHORT   COURS'E 


IN 


LITERA.TURE 


rnslish  and  taaiitan* 


BY 


JOHN  S.  HART,  LL.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  RHETORIC  AND  OF  THE  ENGLISH    LANGUAGE  AND   LITERATURE  IN  THE 
COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
ELDREDGE  &  BROTHER, 

No.  17  North  Seventh  Street. 
1873. 


A  SERIES    OF   TEXT-BOOKS 

ON  THE 

ENGLISH  LANGUAGE, 

■  '     ,  BY 

JOHN   S.    HART,    LL.D. 

Pirst  Lessons  in  Composition. 
Composition  and  Khetoric. 
A  Short  Course  in  Literature. 

And  for  Colleges  and  Higher  Institutions  of  Learning  ; 

A  Manual  of  English  Literature. 
A  Manual  of  American  Literature. 


'3c^V — 

"^j  Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by  ^ 

j  ELDREDGE   &   BROTHER,  i 

V  in  the  OflSce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington.  w 

3W 'K^^- >i^ 


J.   FAGAN   &   SON,  fS'^Sm 

,    ELECTROTYPERS,    PHILAP'A.    ^^^^ 


i 


CAXTON  press  op  SHERMAN  k  CO. 


Preface. 

rpHE  present  volume  is  in  the  main  an  abridgment 
-*-  of  two  larger  works  by  the  same  author,  one  on 
Eno^lish  Literature,  the  other  on  American  Literature. 
In  many  schools,  it  is  found  impracticable  to  devote  to 
the  subject  of  Literature  the  amount  of  time  needed  to 
master  the  two  volumes  named,  and  yet  it  is  thought 
best  not  to  omit  the  study  altogether.  For  the  accom- 
modation of  such  schools  this  compend  has  been  pre- 
pared. In  using  it,  great  advantage  will  arise  from 
having  copies  of  the  larger  works  accessible  to  the 
scholars,  as  well  as  to  the  teachers,  for  the  purpose 
of  reference. 


543457 


i 


► 


Part  I. 


ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, 17 

CHAPTER    I. 
English  before  Chaucer. 

The  Brut  of  Layamon,      .........  19 

The  Ormulum,             .........  20 

The  Ancren  Riwie,  Robert  of  Gloucester,       .  .  .  .  .  .21 

Robert  of  Brunne,  Metrical  Romance,        ......  22 

CHAPTER  II. 

Chaucer  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Chaucer,        ...........  23 

Gower,  Piers  Plowman,          ........  25 

Wyckliffe, 26 

Mandeville,       ..........  27 

CHAPTER  III. 
Early  Scotch  Poets. 

Barbour,  Wyntouu,  .  .  ...  .  .  •  .  .28 

James  I.,            ..........  29 

Blind  Harry.  ITcnryson,  Dunbar,           .            .            .            .            .            ,            .  30 

Gawin  Douglas,            .            .            .            .          /  .            .            .            .            .  31 

Liiulsay,      ...........  32 

1*  V 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Age  before  Spenser. 

PAGE 

Caxton,  Sir  Thomas  More,  Skelton,  Latimer,         .....  34 

Wyatt,  Surrey,      ..........      35 

Tuaser,  ..........  36 

CHAPTER  V. 

Spenser,   Shakespeare,    Bacon,    and    their 
Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,  ........      37 

SECTION  I.  — Spenser  and  Contemporary  Poets. 


Sidney,        ...........  39 

Raleigh,  ..........  40 

Sackville,  Southwell,        .........  41 

Daniel,  brayton,  Fairfax,       ........  42 

Giles  and  Phineas  Fletcher,  Herbert,    .......  43 

SECTION  II. —  Shakespeare  and  the  Early 
Dramatists. 

Rise  of  the  English  Drama,  .......  43 

Marlowe,  Shakespeare,    .........  46 

Ben  Jonson,      .....  ^.  ....  47 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Chapman,       .  ......  48 

Shirley  and  Others,      .........  49 

SECTION  III. —  Bacon  and  Contemporary  Prose 

Writers. 

Bacon,         ...........      49 

Roger  Ascham,  .  .  .  .  .  .....  50 

Burton,  Sir  Richard  Baker,  Hakluyt,  Fox  the  Martyrologist,         .           .  .51 

Hooker, 52 

CHAPTER    VI. 

The  English  Bible  and  other  Public  Stand- 
ards of  Faith  and  Worship. 

I.  The  English  Bible. 

1.  Wyckliffe's  Version ;  2.  Tyndale's  Version,  .  .  .  .54 

3.  Coverdale's  Version ;  4.  Matthew's  Version  ;  5.  The  Great  Bible,  .  55 


i 


CONTENTS.  Vll 


6.  The  Geneva  Version  ;  7.  The  Bishops'  Bible, 

8.  The  Kheinis-Duuay  Version, 

9.  King  James's  Version,     .  .      '      . 
IT.  The  English  Prayer  Book, 

in.  Thk  Shorter  Catixhism, 

IV.  ExcLiSH  Hymxody. 

Steruhohl  and  Ilupkins,  Tate  and  Brady,  Rouse 
Watts's  Psalms  and  llyinns,  Wesleyan  Hymns,  , 
Successors  to  Watts  and  Wesley, 


s  Psalms,  .  .      61 

G2 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Milton  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,  ........      63 

SECTION   I. —The  Poets. 

Milton,  ..........  63 

Waller,  Cowley,  Wither,  .  .  .  ,  .  .      '      .  .67 

Ilerrick,  Suckling,  Butler,  Other  Poets,     ......  68 

SECTION  II.  — Political  and  Miscellaneous. 

Clarendon,  Prynne,        .........      69 

Ilobbes,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  .......  70 

Bishop  Wilkins,  Izaak  Walton,  .  .  .  .  ,  ,  .71 

SECTION  III. —  Theological  \Vriters. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  Bishop  Hall,  Usher,  ......  72 

Fuller,  Pearson,  Ciulworth,        ........  73 

Barrow,  Howe,  Baxter,         ........  74 

Owen,  Bunyan,      ..........  75 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Dryden  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,         ........  77 

SECTION  I.— The  Poets. 

Dryden,      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .77 

Roscommon,    ..........  78 

Dorset,  Dramatic  Writers,  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .79 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  II.  — Philosophical  and  Miscellaneous. 

PAGE 

Locke,         ...........      79 

Boyle, 80 

Temple,  Evelyn,    ..........      81 


SECTION  III.— Theological  Writers. 

Tillotson,  ..........  81 

South,  Stillingfleet,  Beveridge,  Bishop  Ken,  Matthew  Henry,         .  .  .82 


SECTION  IV.  — Early  Friends. 


George  Fox,  Barclay, 
William  Penn,    . 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Pope  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,          .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .  85 

SECTION  I.— The  Poets. 

Pope,          .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .      •     .  85 

Prior,  Gay,  Philips,     .           .           ./ 87 

Parnell,  Thomson,  Blair,              ........  88 

SECTION  II.— The  Dramatists. 

Wycherley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  Farquhar,         .....  89 

Jeremy  Collier,     ..........  90 

SECTION  III.— The  Prose  Writers. 

Addison,            ..........  90 

Steele,         ...........  91 

Swift,     ...........  92 

Arbuthnot,  Shaftesbury,             ........  93 

Bolingbroke,  Atterbury,        ........  94 

Berkeley,                ..........  95 

Bentley,  Boyle,             .........  96 

Middloton,  De  Foe,  Wollaston,                .......  97 

Hutchinson,  Ilutcheson,  Hartley,  Whiston,  Bailey,  Ephraim  Chambers,         .  98 

SECTION  IV. —Theological  Writers. 

Butler,  Leslie,  Stackhouse,          ........  99 

Doddridge,  Leland,  Ridgley,  Neal,  Boston,             .....  100 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  X. 
Dr.  Johnson  and  his  Contemporaries. 

PAGE 

Introductory  Remarks,         ........         101 

SECTION  I. —  Miscellaneous  Prose  Writers. 

Dr.  Johnson,  ......••••  101 

Burke, 103 

Chesterfield,  Junius  — Sir  Philip  Francis,       .  .  .  .  •  .105 

Hume, 106 

Gibbon,  Robertson,  Kames,        ........  107 

Harris,  Tyrwhitt,  Lyttelton,  .......  108 

Elizabeth  Carter,  Lady  Montagu,    Elizabeth  Montague,      ....  109 

SECTION  II.— The  Novelists. 

Richardson,  Fielding,  ........  110 

Smollett,  Sterne, Ill 

SECTION  III.  —  The  Poets. 

Goldsmith, 112 

Gray,  Collins, 113 

Shenstone,  Akenside,  Ramsay,  Young,  Falconer,  Mrs.  Steele,   .           .           .  114 

Chatterton,          ..........  115 

SECTION  IV. —Theological  Writers. 

Warburton,  Lowth,  Hervey,  Law,        .......    116 

Newton,  Cruden,  Lardner,  .......  117 

Bishop  Challoner,  Alban  Butler,  .......    118 

CHAPTER  XL 
Cowper  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,        ........         119 

SECTION  I. —The  Poets. 

Cowper,    ...........  120 

J.  Newton,  Darwin,  ........  121 

Beattie,  Burns,     ..........  122 

Grahame,  Mrs.  luchbald,      ........  123 

SECTION  II. —The  Dramatists. 

Sheridan, 123 

Garrick,  Foote,  Hume,  ........  124 


:  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  III. —  Miscellaneous  Prose  Writers. 


PAGE 

Hannah  More,  Madame  D'Arblay, 

.     125 

Dr.  Burncy,    ....... 

126 

Mrs.  Radcliffe,  Mackenzie,  Paine, 

.    127 

Godwin,  Adum  Siuitli,           ..... 

128 

Paley,        .        

.     12» 

Keid,  Adam  Ferguson,          ..... 

130 

Blair,  Campbell,  Ilorne  Tooke, 

.     131 

Warton,  Sir  William  Jones,             .... 

132 

Bishop  Percy,  Walker, 

.    133 

Lindley  Murray,       ...... 

134 

SECTION  IV. —Theological  Writers. 

The  Wesleys,  Whitefield,  ........    135 

Toplady,  McKnight,  Milner,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .136 

Newcome,  Watson,        ♦....».,.    137 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Sir  ^Valter  Scott  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,        ........         138 

SECTION  I.  — The  Poets. 

Byron,        .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .  138 

Moore,  Shelley,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,140 

Keats,  Kirke,  White, 141 

Campl)ell,  Rogers,       .........  142 

Suuthey,      ...........  143 

Coleridge,         ..........  144 

Joanna  Baillie,  Mrs.  Hemans,     ........  145 

Elizabeth  Landon,  Crabbe,     ........  146 

Heber,  Hogg,  Bloomfield,            ........  147 

Pollok,  .            .            .    , 148 

SECTION  II. -The  Novelists. 

Sir  Walter  Scott    ..........    148 

Maria  Edgeworth,       .........  150 

Miss  Austen,  Jane  Porter,  Lady  Blessington,  ......    151 

SECTION  III.  — Reviewers  and  Political  Writers. 

GifFord,  Mackintosh,   .........  152 

Hazlitt,  Canning,  Cobbett, 163 


► 


CONTENTS.  XI 

SECTION  IV. —  Philosophical  and  Scientific. 

PAGE 

Diigald  Stewart,  .......••  15'^ 

Brown,  Abercrombie,  Dymond,  Bentham,        ......    155 

Matthews,  Ricardo,    .....•••  .156 

SECTION  v.  — Religious  and  Theological. 

Scott  the  Commentator,   .........    156 

Robert  Hall,  Legh  Richmond, .157 

SECTION  VI.  — Miscellaneous. 

Mrs.  Barbauld,  ........••  158 

Dr.  Aikin,  Lamb,  Roscoe,  ......••    159 

Mitford,  Gillies, 160 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
^Vordsworth  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,    .........    161 

SECTION  I. —The  Poets. 

Wordsworth,    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .161 

Keble, 163 

Croly,  Ebenezer  Elliott,  . .164 

Barham,  Hood,  Iluok,       .........    165 

J.  Montgomery,  R.  Montgomery,  Barton,  T.  H.  Bayly,    ....  166 

SECTION  II.— Novelists. 

Miss  Mitford,  Mrs.  Opie,  Lady  Morgan,  ......    167 

Marryat,  Borrow,        .........  168 

Charlotte  Bronte  and  Sisters,      ........    169 

SECTION  III.  —  Literature,  Politics,  and  Science. 

Sydney  Smith, 169 

Jeffrey,  Brougham,  .........    170 

Wilson, 171 

De  Quincey,  ..........    172 

Lockhart,  Landor,        .........  173 

Foster,  Hallani,  Hugh  Miller,      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .174 

SECTION  IV.  —  Religion  and  Theology. 

Chalmers,  Bridgewater  Treatises,     .......  175 

Tracts  for  the  Times,  Essays  and  Reviews,       ......    176 

Isaac  Taylor,  Mrs.  Sherwood,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .177 


XU  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  V.  —  History  and  Biography. 

PAGE 

Lingard,  Sir  Archibald  Alison,         .......  178 

Sharon  Turner,  Lord  Campbell,             .            ......  179 

SECTION  VI.  — Miscellaneous. 

Arnold  of  Rugby, 179 

Matthew  Arnold,  Archibald  Alison,             ......  180 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
Tennyson  and  his  Contemporaries. 

Introductory  Remarks,    .........  181 

SECTION  I.  — The  Poets. 

Tennyson,         ..........  181 

Robert  and  Elizabeth  Browning,           .......  183 

Mrs.  Norton,     ..........  184 

Barry  Cornwall,  Adelaide  Procter,  P.  J.  Bailey,  Aytoun,       ....  185 

Bonar,  Bickersteth,  Charlotte  Elliott,  Jean  Ingelow,  Morris,    .           .           .  186 

SECTION  II.— The  Novelists. 

Dickens,      ...........  187 

Thackeray,        ..........  189 

Bulwer-Lytton,      ..........  190 

Disraeli — Father  and  Son,    .            .            .            .            .            .            .            .  191 

Trollope  —  Mother  and  Sons,      ........  192 

Charles  Reade,  Mayne  Reid,  ........  193 

Kingsley,  Hughes,  Lever,            ........  194 

Lover,  Warren,  James,            .            .            .            .            .            .            .            .  195 

Collins,  "  George  Eliot,"  Mrs.  Gaskill,  Miss  Mulock,  Miss  Youge,    .           .           .  196 

SECTION  II.  —  Literature  and  Politics. 

Carlyle, 197 

Raskin,  Max  MUller,        .........  198 

0.  C.  Lewis,  Latham,  Craik,  J.  S.  Mill,        ......  199 

Gladstone,  Derby,  Jerrold,  Mrs.  Jameson,        ......  200 

SECTION  IV.  — Philosophy  and  Science. 

Hamilton,  Buckle,       .........  201 

Spencer,  Lecky,  Argyle,  .........  202 

Brewster,  Whewell,  Darwin,  ........  203 

Owen,  Lyell,  Tyndale,     .........  204 

SECTION  v.  — History  and  Biography. 

Miuaulay,          ..........  205 

<>'i'>t".           ...........  20fi 

I'rniiilo.  Merivalo,  Milman,  A.  Strickland,              .....  207 

K.njilak*',  Helps, 208 


( 


CONTENTS.  XIU 

SECTION  VL  — Theological  and  Religious. 

PAGE 

Newman,  ..........         208 

Wiseniau,  Manning,  Pusey,        .  .  .  ...  .  .  .209 

Colenso,  Seeley,  Robertson,   ........  210 

Whately,  Faber,  Home,   .,...'.,..    211 
Trench,  Alford, 212 

SECTION  VII.  — Miscellaneous. 

William  and  Mary  Hewitt,         ........    213 

Robert  and  William  Chambers,  Crabb  Robinson,  Richardson,  .  .  .  214 

Smith's  Dictionaries,  Russell,  the  Times  Correspondent,      ....    215 

The  London  Times,      .  .  .  .  ,  .  .  .  .216 

Other  Journals,     ..........    217 


Part  II 


AMERICAN   LITERATURE. 

INTRODUCTION 219 

CHAPTER  I. 


i 


The  Early  Colonial  Period 

Whitaker's  Good  Newes,  Sandys's  Ovid,  .     •     . 

Vaughau's  Golden  Fleece,  Wood's  New  England's  Prospect, 
First  Printing  Press,  Bay  Psalm  Book,  John  Cotton,  T.  Shepard,  . 
Roger  Williams,  Eliot,  Anne  Bradstreet,    .... 
Richard  Mather,  Increase  Mather,  Cotton  Mather,     . 
President  Blair,  Col.  W.  Byrd,  J.  Logan,  T.  Chalkley,     . 
J.  Woolman,  C.  Golden,  S.  Johnson,  President  Clap,  . 
Presidents  Dickinson,  Burr,  Edw^ards,  and  Davies, 


220 
220 
221 
222 
223 
224 
225 
226 


CHAPTER  11. 
The  Revolutionary  Period. 

Introductory  Remarks,  ....••••    227 

Franklin,  Washington,  John  Adams,  ....••  228 

Jefferson,  Madison,  Hamilton,  Jay,        ...••••    229 
Witherspoon,  F.  Hopkinson,  Brackenridge,  .....  230 

Trumbull,  Barlow,  Dwight,  Ames,        ,  .  .  .  •  •  .231 

Ramsay,  .  *       .  .  .  .  .  •  •  •  .232 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 
From  1800  to  1830. 

PAGE 

Introductory  Remarks,  R.  T.  Paine,  Fessenden,        .           .           .           ,           .  233 

J.  Ilopkinson,  Key,  VV'oodworth,  Drake,  Brown,  Wirt,  Wilson,             .           ,  234 

Audubon,  N.  Webster,  Kent,      ........  235 

Story,  Marshall, 236 

CHAPTER   IV. 
From  1830  to  1850. 

Introductory  Remarks,   .........  237 

SECTION  I.  — The  Poets. 

Poe, .  237 

Halleck,  Dana,  Pierpoiit,  Percival,  J.  H.  Payne,  Sprague,     .  .  .  .238 

Mrs.  Osgood,  Hannah  F.  Gould,  Mrs.  Shindler,      .....  239 

SECTION  II. —  Novelists,  etc. 

Cooper,       ...........  239 

Miss  Sedgwick,  Miss  Mcintosh,  J.  P.  Kennedy,     .            .            .           .         ■  .  240 

Paulding,  Sanderson,  J.  C.  Neal,  J.  Neal,         .  .  .  .  .  .241 

Hoffman,  Willis,  Morris,  Miss  Leslie,           ......  242 

Mrs.  Kirkland,  Mrs.  Child,  Mrs.  Judson,  Mrs.  Haven,           ....  243 

Mrs.  Heutz,      ..........  244 

SECTION  III. —  History  and  Biography. 

Irving,        ...........  244 

Sparks,  Palfrey,  Stone,  Ingersoll,  Guyarre,  Allen,            ....  245 

SECTION  IV. —  Literature  and  Criticism. 

Emerson,    ...........  246 

M.  Fuller,  H.  B.  Wallace,  Reed,  Verplanck,  Griswold,     ....  247 

SECTION  V. —  Political  Writers. 

Alexander  and  Edward  Everett,  D.  Webster,              .            .            .            .            .  24S 

J.  Q.  Adams,  Burton,  Clay,  Calhoun,           ......  -4^ 

Legare,  Choate,  Wheaton,  Lieber,          .......  -''>0 

SECTION  VI. —Scientific  Writers. 

Silliman,  Olmsted,  Henry,  Bache,  Dunglison,        .  .  .  .  .251 

Hitchcock,  Kane,  Worcester,      ........  252 

Marsh,  Anthon,  Rush,           ........  253 

SECTION  VII. —Theological  Writers. 

Archibald  Alexander,      .........  253 

James  and  Addison  Alexander,       ,           .           .           .           .           .           .  254 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAGB 
Miller,  Barnes,  Breckinridge,     ........    256 

Cox,  Thornwell,  Sprague,  J.  Jones,  L.  Beecher,     .....  257 

Moses  Stuart,  Ed.  Robiuson,  Upham,  Bethune,  Channing,   ....    258 

Furness,  Parker,  Potter,  Doaue,  Turner,    ......  259 

Wayland,  Alexander  Campbell,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    2C0 

SECTION  VIII. —Miscellaneous  Writers. 

Mrs.  Sigourney,           .........  260 

Mrs.  Willard,  Mrs.  Phelps,  Mrs.  Oilman,          .            .            .            .            .  .201 

Mrs.  Hale,  Mrs.  Tuthill,  President  Quincy,             .....  262 

Mann,  Schoolcraft,  Downing,  Gallaudet,  Goodrich,                .            .            .    _  .    263 


CHAPTER  V. 
From  1850  to  the  Present  Time. 

Introductory  Remarks,          ........  265 

SECTION  I.— The  Poets. 

Longfellow,            ..........  265 

Whitticr, 267 

Bryant,  Boker,       ..........  268 

Read,  Saxe,  Holland, 269 

Fields,  Street,  Fla^h,  Mrs.  Preston,         .  .  .  .  .  .  .270 

Alice  and  Phoebe  C;ut,  Mrs.  Kinney,          .            .            .            .            .            .  271 

Randolph,  Bret  Hiirte,  Joaquin  Miller,  .  .  .  .  .  .272 

SECTION  II.  —  Literature  and  Criticism. 

Lowell,              ..........  272 

Tuckernian,  Whipple,  Kate  Field,  Tyler,  R.  G.  White,  .  .  .  .273 

Duyckinck,  AUibono,             ........  274 

Davidson,   ...........  275 

SECTION  III.  —  Magazinists. 

Holmes,  Parton,          .           .           .           ...           .           .           .           .  275 

Mrs.  Parton,  Abigail  Podge,       ........  276 

Curtis,  IIowclls,  Higginson,  Trowbridge,    ......  277 

Gen.  Hill .  .278 

SECTION  IV. —Journalists. 

Bennett,  Greeley,  Raymond,              .            .            .            .            .            .            .  278 

Hurlbut,     ...........  279 

Godkin,  Godwin,  Thompson,              .......  280 

Prentice,  Ripley,  Dana,  Biddle,  McMichael,  Forney, .....  281 

Mackenzie,  Townsend,  Reid,              .......  282 

New  York  Associated  Press,  Egglestou,  Prime,  Tilton.         ....  283 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  V.  —  Humorists. 

PAGS 

Artemus  Ward,  .........  283 

Mark  Twain,  Mrs.  Partington,  Josh  Billings,  Leland,  ....  284 

Jack  Downing,  Bagby,  Longstreet, ......  285 

SECTION  VI.  — Miscellaneous. 

Bayard  Taylor,       ..........  285 

Strother,  Sargent,  Giles,  La  Borde,  ......  286 

Barnard,  Ogdeu,  "Wickersham,  Swinton,  ......  287 

Alden,   ...........  288 

SECTION  VII.  —  Novelists. 

Hawthorne,  Winthrop,    .........  288 

Thoreau,  Dana,  Mitchell,  Kimball,  Gilmore,  Sinims,        ....  289 

J.  E.  and  Ph.  P.  Cooke,  Bird,  Peterson,  Melville,       .....  290 

Ai'thur,  Adams,  J.  Abbott,    ........  291 

J.  S.  C.  Abbott,  Stowe,  Warners,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .292 

Ritchie,  Lippincott,  Spofford,  Alcott,  Dickinson,  Smith, ....  293 

Chesebro,  Holmes,  Tcrhune,  Wilson,  Lee,  Whitney,  .....  294 

Baker,  Sadlier,  .........  295 

SECTION  VIII. —Historians. 

Prescott,  Bancroft,       .........  295 

Ticknor,  Motley,  Kirk,  Pollard,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .296 

Shea,  Thomas,  Ellet,   .........  297 

Lossing,      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  298 

SECTION  IX. —  Politics  and  Political  Economy. 

Carey,  Sumner,  Stephens      ........  298 

Helper,        ...........  299 

SECTION  X.— Scientific. 

Agassiz,  Guyot,  .........  299 

Maury,  Steele,  B.  Brooks,  Whitney,  Bledsoe,  .  .  .  .  .300 

Chase,  Stuart,  N.  C.  Brooks,  McGuffey,  Newell,  Crcery,  ...  301 

SECTION  XI.— Theological. 


Hodge,        ........ 

McCosh,  Porter,  Boardman,  ..... 

Jacobus,  Shedd,  Cuyler,  Lewis,  ..... 

Plumer,  Smyth,  Scott,  ..... 

Krauth,  SchaflF,  Bcechcr,  Chadbourne,  Peabody, 

Hackett,  Samson,  Eddy,  McClintock, 

Stevens,  Whedon,  Challen,  Milligan,  Mcllvaiuo,  Odenheimer, 

Stone,  Tyng,  Keni-ick,  ..... 

Spalding,  Bay  ley,  Hughes,  England,  Brownson, 


301 

302 
2C3 
304 


.     307 


Part  I. 
English  Literature. 

INTRODUCTION. 

English  Literature,  strictly  speaking,  does  not  mean  the  litera- 
ture of  England. 

There  have  been  in  England  several  successive  races,  each  having 
a  literature  of  its  own.  The  old  C^lts,  still  represented  by  the  Welsh 
in  the  west  of  England,  had  a  literature,  rather  extensive  too,  which 
is  no  more  English  than  the  Hebrew  is.  The  Anglo-Saxons,  through 
a  period  of  several  centuries,  culminating  in  the  time  of  Alfred  the 
Great,  had  a  literature,  some  of  it  of  a  high  order.  This,  though 
nearer  to  the  English  than  any  of  the  others  are,  though  indeed  the 
parent  of  the  English,  is  not  itself  English ;  it  is  Anglo-Saxon.  The 
Normans,  who  settled  in  England  in  the  twelfth  century,  brought  with 
them  a  noble  literature.  But  it  was  Norman-French,  not  English. 
The  ecclesiastics  of  the  English  Church,  from  the  second  century, 
possibly  from  the  first,  down  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  even 
a  little  later,  had  among  them  a  literature  of  their  own,  which  is  very 
copious,  and  some  of  it  of  a  high  order.  But  it  is  Church-Latin,  not 
English. 

A  literature  is  named,  not  from  the  soil  on  which  it  thrives,  but 
from  the  language  in  which  it  is  written.  As  Latin  literature  is  that 
written  in  the  Latin  language,  as  Greek  literature  is  that  written  in 
the  Greek  language,  so 

English  Literature  is  that  written  in  the  English  language. 

2  *  B  17 


,16  '  £N':^l.ISH    LITERATURE. 

"What  it  Iacl;adfe^.— It  includes  works  written  by  Americans,  as 
Av  il  a •■  Jiose  writteR  by  Eiiiglishmen.  It  includes  the  works  even  of 
loreigners,  provided  those  works  are  written  in  the  English  language. 

How  Divided.  —  For  convenience  of  treatment,  however,  the  subject 
is  divided  into  two  parts.  The  works  in  English  written  in  England 
and  its  dependencies  are  considered  under  the  head  of  English  Liter- 
ature ;  the  works  in  English  written  in  the  United  States  are  consid- 
ered under  the  head  of  American  Literature. 

Point  of  Beginning.  —  To  fix  a  precise  point  when  English  Litera- 
ture may  be  said  to  have  begun,  we  must  first  ascertain  how  far  back 
the  English  Language  goes. 

Beginning  of  the  Language.  — In  one  sense,  Language,  being  in  a 
constant  state  of  transition,  has  no  beginning  —  none,  that  is,  which 
may  be  traced  to  some  precise  point  in  historical  times.  And  yet,  if 
we  follow  any  language  from  its  present  condition  back  through  suc- 
cessive changes,  we  find,  after  a  while,  that  the  documents  which 
appear  in  it  are  no  longer  intelligible  to  ordinary  readers.  The  stream 
is  lost.  We  are  obliged,  therefore,  for  convenience  of  treatment,  to 
assume  a  point,  somewhat  arbitrarily,  where  each  language,  in  its 
present  form,  may  be  said  to  begin.  Happily,  in  the  case  of  the  Eng- 
lish language,  historical  events  have  defined  this  point  more  sharply 
than  is  the  case  with  most  languages.  The  Saxons  in  England  main- 
tained their  language  comparatively  unimpaired  until  the  coming 
of  the  Normans,  a.  d.  1066.  For  one  or  two  centuries  after  the  com- 
ing of  the  Normans,  a  sharp  conflict  took  place,  not  only  between  the 
two  races,  but  also  between  the  two  languages.  The  final  result  was 
a  mixed  race  and  a  mixed  language  —  predominantly  Saxon,  but  with 
a  large  Norman  element. 

The  mixed  language  resulting  from  the  Conquest,  neither  pure 
Saxon,  such  as  Alfred  spoke  and  wrote,  still  less  pure  Norman-FEench, 
such  as  William  and  his  barons  spoke,  is  our  English. 

The  Precise  Point.  — In  a  change  so  gradual  and  continuous  as  that 
of  the  transition  of  a  language  from  its  ancient  form  to  its  modern 
form,  it  is  not  easy,  as  already  stated,  to  fix  a  precise  point  where  the 
language  ceases  to  be  one,  and  becomes  clearly  the  other.  But,  in 
the  case  of  the  English, 

The  date,  A.  d.  1200,  may  be  assumed  as  a  convenient  dividing  line 
between  the  old  language  and  the  new. 

Documents  written  much  earlier  than  that  are  either  Anglo-Saxon 
or  Norman-French,  -according  to  the  birth  and  the  proclivities  of  the 
writer ;  documents  later  than  that,  become  soon  unmistakably  English. 


► 


CHAPTER  I. 

Enqlish  before  Chaucer. 

(1200-1350.) 

Eecognizing  the  language  as  being  English  from  and  after  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  first  author  in  chronological 
order  that  claims  attention  is  a  Chronicler  by  the  name  of  Layamon. 

The  Brut  of  Layamon. 

The  work  of  Layamon  is  called  Brut,  or  more  fully,  Brutus  of  Eng- 
land. It  is  a  chronicle  of  British  affairs,  from  the  arrival  of  Brutus, 
an  imaginary  son  of  JEneas  of  Troy,  to  the  death  of  King  Cadwalader, 
A.  D.  689. 

Origin  of  the  Legend.  —  Among  the  old  Britons  there  had  grown  up 
a  most  extraordinary  mass  of  legends  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of 
the  race.  The  great  object  of  patriotic  ambition  with  them  seemed  to  be 
to  trace  the  origin  of  their  race  back  to  ancient  Troy.  This  floating 
mass  of  traditionary  legends  had  been  collected  by  some  Celtic  hand, 
and  woven,  with  all  possible  gravity,  into  a  formal  history  of  Britain, 
tracing  its  line  of  monarchs  back,  in  regular  succession,  to  Brutus,  an 
imaginary  son  of  iEneas  of  Troy.  Brutus  settled  in  Britain,  as  ^Eneas 
did  in  Italy.     Such  was  the  tradition. 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  —  An  English  monk,  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth, 
translated  into  Latin  this  Welsh  Chronicle,  now  lost.  Geoffrey  called 
his  book  Historia  Britonnm,  A  History  of  the  Britons.  As  history  it 
is  worthless.  It  forms,  however,  an  important  link  in  the  history  of 
English  literature,  the  materials  of  a  large  number  of  the  earliest 
works  that  exist,  both  in  English  and  in  Norman-French,  having 
been  drawn  from  this  crude  mass  of  fictions,  misnamed  history. 

Layamon' s  Chronicle. —  Layamon's  Chronicle,  Brutus  of  England,  is 
in  the  main  a  translation  of  a  Chronicle  of  the  same  name,  "Brut 
d'Angleterre,"  by  Wace,  a  Norman-French  poet,  who  took  the  story 
from  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth. 

19 


20  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Of  Layamon  himself  we  know  nothing,  except  what  he  himself  tells 
us,  which  is  very  little.  He  tells  us  that  he  was  a  priest,  and  that  he 
resided  at  Ernley,  near  Eedstone,  in  Worcestershire ;  and  he  seems  to 
say  that  he  was  employed  there  in  the  services  of  the  church. 

Date  of  the  Chronicle.  —  The  composition  of  the  Chronicle,  Brutus 
of  England,  has,  fi'om  internal  evidence,  been  assigned  to  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  —  not  later,  probably,  than  the  year  1205. 

Versij&cation  of  the  Chronicle.  —  The  French  Chronicle  which  Lay- 
amon followed  was  in  eight-syllable  rhyming  couplets.  Layamon's 
Brutus  sometimes  rhymes ;  as, 

—  Kinges  — theines  — velde 

—  thinges  — sweines  — seelde. 

Occasionally  also  it  runs  into  regular  octo-syllabics ;  as, 

Summe  heo  gunnen  lepen, 
Summe  heo  driven  balles. 

On  the  whole,  it  would  seem  that  Layamon,  for  his  versification,  either 
loUowed  some  system  of  his  own,  dependent  upon  artifices  which,  at 
this  distance,  we  cannot  appreciate,  —  which,  at  any  rate,  we  have  not 
yet  discovered,  —  or,  which  is  probable,  that  he  had  no  system  of  verse, 
but  simply  broke  up  his  matter  into  short  lines,  like  the  original 
which  he  was  translating,  and  that  in  so  doing,  he  occasionally 
adopted  both  its  metre  and  its  rhyme. 

Linguistic  Value  of  the  Chronicle.  —  The  Linguistic  value  of  Laya- 
mon's  Brutus  is  very  great.  The  Chronicle  is  considerable  in  amount, 
numbering  32,250  lines ;  and  it  shows  us  the  condition  of  the  language 
in  that  interesting  and  curious  transition  stage,  about  midway  between 
the  pure  old  Saxon  and  the  established  modern  English. 

The  Ormulum. 

The  Ormulum  is  so  called  from  its  author,  Orm,  as  he  himself  says, 
in  the  opening  couplet : 

This  b6c  is  nemmed  Ormulum, 
Forthy  that  Orm  it  wrote. 

Subject  of  the  Ormulum.  —  The  Ormulum  is  a  series  of  Homilies, 
the  subjects  of  the  homilies  being  those  portions  of  the  New  Testament 
appointed  to  be  read  in  the  daily  mass  service  of  the  church. 

Date  of  the  Ormulum.  —  The  Ormulum  was  written  somewhere  in 
the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a  little  later  than  the  Brutus 
of  Layamon,  perhaps  about  the  year  1 220. 


ENGLISH  BEFORE  CHAUCER.        21 

Diction  of  the  Ormulum.  —  The  Ormnlum,  like  the  Brutus  of  Laya- 
mon,  has  almost  no  Norman-French  words.  It  shows  the  language  in 
that  state  in  which  the  old  Saxon  inflections  are  nearly  gone,  the 
grammatical  structure  being  almost  identical  with  modern  English, 
but  foreign  words  have  not  yet  begun  to  intrude  themselves. 

Versification  of  the  Ormulum.  —  The  verse,  in  the  Ormulum,  does 
not  rhyme,  but  it  is  metrical  throughout,  and  consists  of  couplets, 
arranged  in  lines  alternately  of  eight  syllables  and  seven  syllables. 
Thus: 

I  Now  broth! er  Waltler,  broth|er  min, — 
I  After  I  the  flesh ies  kindle. 

It  is  a  peculiar  and  not  unpleasing  form  of  blank  verse. 

The  Aneren  Ri^A^le. 

The  title,  Aneren  Rhvle,  means  "Anchoresses'  Eule,"  —  Aneren 
being  the  abbreviated  form  of  the  old  genitive  "  Ancrena,"  and  Biwle 
being  the  old  spelling  for  "  Kule." 

Object  of  the  Work.  —  The  Aneren  Kiwle  is  a  treatise  on  the  duties 
of  the  monastic  life,  written  by  an  ecclesiastic,  apparently  one  in  high 
authority,  for  the  direction  of  tliree  ladies,  to  whom  it  is  addressed, 
and  who,  with  their  domestic  servants,  or  lay  sisters,  formed  the  entire 
community  of  a  religious  house. 

Date  of  the  Work.  —  The  composition  of  the  Aneren  Eiwle  is  re- 
ferred to  the  same  date  as  the  Ormulum,  possibly  a  little  later.  The 
year  1225  is  given  as  a  probable  conjecture.  It  is  interesting  as  an 
extended  specimen  of  prose  of  the  same  period  with  the  two  poetical 
works  already  noticed. 

Robert  of  Gloucester. 

At  the  distance  of  nearly  a  century  from  Layamon,  is  a  rhyming 
Chronicler,  Robert  of  Gloucester.  All  we  know  of  him  is  that  he  was 
a  monk  of  Gloucester  Abbey,  and  as  he  alludes  to  events  which  oc- 
curred in  1297,  he  must  have  written,  or  at  least  finished,  his  Chronicle 
after  that  date. 

Subject.  —  Robert  of  Gloilcester's  Chronicle  is  a  versified  history  of 
Britisli  affliirs,  from  the  imaginary  Brutus  of  Troy  down  to  the  death 
of  Henry  III.,  A.  d.  1272. 

Its  Versification.  —  This  Chronicle  is  written  for  the  most  part  in 
Alexandrine  metre,  or  iambic  twelve-syllable  rhyming  couplets. 

Its  Diction.  —  The  language  shows  great  advance  from  the  documriiui 


22  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

previously  described,  and  requires  almost  no  cliange  to  be  intelligible 
to  the  modern  reader. 

Robert  of  Brunne. 

At  the  distance  of  nearly  half  a  century  from  Kobert  of  Gloucester, 
is  Kobert  Manning,  generally  called,  from  his  birthplace,  Robert  of 
Brunne.     His  Chronicle  was  finished  in  the  year  1338. 

Further  Particulars. —  Robert  of  Brunne's  Chronicle  gives  a  rhyming 
history  of  England  from  Brutus  of  Troy  down  to  the  death  of  Edward 
I.,  A.  D.  1307.  The  first  part,  from  Brutus  to  Cadwalader,  a.  d.  689, 
is  a  translation  of  Wace's  Brutus,  and  is,  like  it,  in  eight-syllable 
rhyming  couplets.  The  remaining  portion  is  a  translation  from  a 
contemporary  Norman-French  chronicle,  and  is,  like  the  original,  in 
Alexandrian,  or  twelve-syllable  rhyming  couplets.  It  shows  some 
advance,  both  in  language  and  in  poetical  merit,  upon  its  predecessors. 

Metrical  Romance. 

The  essential  feature  of  the  Metrical  Romance  was  a  tale  of  love 
and  adventure,  told  in  verse. 

Origin  of  the  Romance.  —  Metrical  romances  were  first  brought  into 
England  by  the  Normans.  Works  of  this  kind  were  immensely  pop- 
ular, both  in  France  and  England.  At  length,  when  the  governing 
race  in  England  began  to  use  the  language  of  their  adopted  country, 
similar  romances  in  English  were  composed  for  their  amusement. 
These  were  imitations  or  translations  from  the  Norman-French,  and 
so  little  did  the  translators  contribute  to  them  of  their  own  invention, 
that  the  names  even  of  the  authors  have  not  come  down  to  us. 

Period  of  the  Metrical  Romance.  —  The  Metrical  Romance  began 
as  early  as  A.D.  1200,  about  the  time  of  Layamon's  Brutus.  It  flour- 
ished to  some  extent  during  the  thirteenth  century,  but  the  time  of 
its  greatest  ascendency  was  in  the  fourteenth.  After  A,  d.  1400, 
it  began  to  wane,  and  finally  it  gave  way  to  the  prose  romance,  and 
then  disappeared  altogether  for  more  than  three  liundred  years,  when 
it  was  for  a  time  quickened  into  new  life,  though  in  a  different  form, 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

The  Most  Celebrated.  —  The  names  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
of  these  Romances  are  Sir  Tristram,  King  Horn,  Sir  Havelock,  Sir 
Guy,  The  Squire  of  Low  Degree,  King  Robert  of  Sicily,  King  Alisan- 
der.  The  King  of  Tars,  The  Death  of  Arthur,  The  Soudan  of  Damas- 
cus, etc. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Chaucer  and  his  Contkmporaries. 

(13B0-1400.) 

The  foiirteentli  century  is  celebrated  in  English  annals  by  the  long 
and  successful  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  by  the  military  glories  of  his 
son,  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  achieved  in  the  famous  battles  of  Crecy 
and  Poitiers,  in  France. 

Civil  and  Religious  Discontents.  —  Before  the  close  of  the  century, 
also,  serious  discontents  arose  among  the  common  people  on  account 
of  the  oppressions  of  the  government,  and  the  first  distinct  protest  was 
uttered  against  the  irregularities  of  the  religious  orders.  In  regard 
both  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  there  was  a  noteworthy  struggle, 
and  many  of  the  reforms  in  both,  which  took  effect  two  centuries 
later,  are  distinctly  traceable  to  the  efforts  put  forth,  and  the  opinions 
expressed,  in  this  stirring  period. 

Writers  of  the  Period.  —  The  fourteenth  century  has  a  few  names  of 
note  in  the  history  of  English  literature.  These  are  Chaucer,  Gower, 
Piers  Plowman,  Wyckliffe,  and  Sir  John  Mandeville. 

Chaucer. 

Geoffrey  Chaucer,  1328-1400,  is  our  first  great  poet,  — so  incompar- 
ably great,  as  to  all  that  went  before,  that  he  is  distinctively  called  the 
Father  of  English  Poetry. 

Personal  History.  —  The  personal  history  of  Chaucer  is  involved  in 
no  little  obscurity.  Neither  the  place  nor  the  date  of  his  birth  is  cer- 
tainly known,  though  an  early  tradition  asserts  that  he  was  born  in 
London,  and  the  probabilities  are  in  favor  of  the  commonly  received 
date  of  1328,  as  that  of  his  birth.  His  writings  give  abundant  proof 
that  he  was  liberally  educated,  and  both  the  great  Universities  claim 
him.     Even  on  this  point,  however,  there  is  no  certainty,  though  there 

23 


24  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

is  a  fair  probability  in  the  conjecture  that,  according  to  a  custom  much 
prevalent  at  that  time,  he  began  his  studies  in  one  University  and  fin- 
islied  them  in  the  other,  as  there  is  also  in  the  supposition  that  he 
spent  some  time  in  study  abroad  at  the  University  of  Paris. 

Social  Position.  —  Chaucer  evidently  belonged  to  a  good  family,  and 
his  connections  through  life  were  with  people  of  rank  and  quality. 
He  lived  in  stirring  times,  being  contemporary  with  Wyckliffe,  John 
of  Gaunt,  the  great  Duke  of  Lancaster,  Edward  III.,  the  invader  of 
France,  and  his  son  the  Black  Prince,  the  hero  of  Crecy  and  Poitiers. 
Chaucer  was  himself  in  the  army  that  invaded  France,  and  was  taken 
prisoner.  He  held  at  different  times  various  offices  of  honor  and 
emolument,  and  tlie  few  authentic  records  of  him  that  we  have  show 
that  he  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  highest  nobility  in  the 
kingdom. 

Marriage.  —  Chaucer  was  by  marriage  closely  connected  with  John 
of  Gaunt,  who  was,  for  a  long  time,  second  only  to  the  King  himself, 
and  whose  son,  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  during  Chaucer's  life,  succeeded 
to  the  throne  under  the  title  of  Henry  IV.  Chaucer's  wife  was  maid 
of  honor  to  the  Queen,  and  Chaucer  himself  was  valet  to  the  King. 

Political  and  Religious  Afl&nities. — Chaucer's  writings  show  him  to 
have  been  in  sympatliy  with  Wyckliffe  and  the  Lancastrians,  in  their 
resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the  Roman  hierarchy.  He  does 
not  indeed  enter  into  the  political  and  religious  questions  of  the 
time  as  a  disputant,  but  the  sketches  of  character  which  he  gives  show 
plainly  enough  where  his  sympathies  lie.  Those  who  are  painted  as 
models  of  excellence,  like  the  Good  Parson,  belong  to  the  national 
party  in  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy;  while  those  who  are  held  up  to 
ridicule,  like  the  Friar  and  the  Sumpnour,  belong  to  the  class  whose 
ecclesiastical  connection  was  with  Rome  rather  than  with  England. 

Chaucer's  principal  work,  The  Canterbury  Tales,  is  believed  to  have 
been  written  late  in  life,  after  the  age  of  sixty,  though  it  is  probable 
that  one  at  least  of  the  Tales,  and  that  the  longest  one  in  the  collection, 
had  been  written  earlier  as  a  separate  performance. 

Plan  of  the  Work.  —  According  to  the  plot  of  this  celebrated  work, 
the  poet  represents  himself  as  bent  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb  of 
Thomas  a  Becket,  at  Canterbury.  At  the  Tabard  Inn,  in  Southwark, 
he  meets  with  nine-and-twenty  other  pilgrims,  all  bound  on  the  same 
errand.  To  beguile  the  tedium  of  the  way,  they  agree  that  each  shall 
tell  a  tale,  both  going  and  returning.  Hence  the  name,  **  The  Canter- 
bury Tales." 

Structure  of  the  Work.  — In  his  Prologue,  which  is  itself  no  incon- 
siderable poem,  Chaucer  describes  each  of  his  fellow  travellers,  and  in 


CHAUCER    AND    HIS    CON"TEMPOR  A  RIES.      25 

these  descriptions  has  given  a  series  of  portraits  that  are  unequalled 
of  their  kind  in  English  literature.  In  the  art  of  word-painting,  these 
portraits  have  never  been  surpassed.  They  constitute  a  picture  gal- 
lery, of  which  the  great  English  race  may  well  be  proud,  as  a  monu- 
ment of  art  which  can  never  decay,  and  which  can  never  be  stolen  by 
Vandal  invaders.  The  gay  cavalcade  having  set  out,  the  narration  of 
the  tales  is  interspersed  with  amusing  incidents  of  the  journey.  Each 
tale  is  in  keeping  with  the  supposed  character  of  the  narrator ;  and  as 
each  is  taken  from  some  walk  in  life  different  from  the  others,  the 
whole  together  form  a  moving  panorama  of  Irfe  and  manners  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  Probably  of  no  country  in  the  world,  except  per- 
haps Arabia  and  Palestine  in  the  time  of  the  Patriarchs,  have  we  such 
a  lively  picture  as  Chaucer,  in  the  Canterbury  Tales,  has  given  us  of 
the  England  of  Wyckliffe  and  Edward  III. 

Gower. 

John  Gower,  1320  (?)-1408,  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  Chau- 
cer, was  not  equal  to  the  latter  in  genius,  or  in  the  influence  which  he 
exerted  on  English  literature.  He  was  far,  however,  from  lacking 
either  genius  or  influence,  and  his  name  is  constantly  coupled  with 
that  of  Chaucer  in  all  the  earlier  authors  or  writers  who  have  written 
of  either. 

Rank  as  a  Poet.  —  Tlie  term  "  moral,"  applied  to  him  originally  by 
Chaucer,  has  stuck  to  Gower  ever  since,  and  is  supposed  to  convey  the 
idea  that  he  was  more  concerned  for  the  moral  correctness  of  his  writ- 
ings than  for  their  elegance  or  taste.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  lacks  those 
qualities  of  imagination,  fancy,  and  humor,  which  mark  so  strongly 
his  great  contemporary. 

Besides  some  smaller  poems,  Gower  wrote  three  large  works,  Specu- 
lum Meditantis  (The  Mirror  of  Meditation),  in  French  ;  Vox  Clamant.is 
(Tiie  Voice  of  One  Crying  in  the  Wilderness),  in  Latin ;  and  (hnfessio 
Amautis  (The  Confessions  of  a  Lover),  in  English. 

Coufessio  Amantis.  —  This,  being  in  English,  is  the  work  by  which 
Gower  is  chiefly  known.  It  is  of  immoderate  length,  —  extending  to 
more  than  30,000  lines.  It  was  once  much  read,  though  few  would 
now  undertake  so  formidable  a  task. 


Piers  Plowman. 

Another  work  of  great  celebrity  and  value,  belonging  to  this  ])eriod 
of  our  literary  history,  is  one  commonly  known  as  Pkrs  Ploumcm.     It 
3 


26  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

was  completed  about  the  same  time  as  The  Canterbury  Tales,  but  is  in 
many  respects  in  striking  contrast  with  that  great  work. 

Piers  Plowman  is  an  allegorical  and  satirical  poem,  in  the  form  of 
a  series  of  visions,  or  dissolving  views,  in  which  the  various  characters 
and  occupations  of  men  pass  under  review. 

The  Name.  —  So  little  is  known  of  the  author  of  this  work,  that  in 
referring  to  it,  or  quoting  from  it,  writers  more  frequently  speak  of 
Piers  Plowman,  which  is  the  name  commonly  given  to  the  poem,  than 
of  Langland,  which  was  probably  the  name  of  the  author.  The  full 
and  proper  title  of  this  work  is,  The  Vision  of  William  concerning 
Piers  the  Plowman. 

History  of  the  Author. — William  Langland,  the  author  of  Piers 
Plowman,  appears  to  have  been  born  about  1332,  and  to  have  died 
about  the  year  1400.  Pie  was  born  in  moderate  circumstances,  but 
was  sent  to  school,  and  acquired  some  knowledge  of  books.  He  was 
not,  however,  an  accomplished  scholar,  like  Chaucer  and  Wyckliffe, 
nor  did  he  move  like  them  in  the  higher  circles  of  social  life.  He  saw 
life  rather  among  the  poor  and  lowly,  and  is  to  be  accepted  as  the  true 
interpreter  of  their  thoughts  and  feelings. 

Form  of  the  Poem.  —  The  old  Saxon  poetry  had  a  form  peculiar  to 
itself.  It  was  neither  metrical,  like  the  classic  poetry,  nor  rhyming, 
like  the  modern,  but  was  distinguished  by  a  peculiar  consonantal  allit- 
eration. The  lines  had  no  fixed  length,  but  had  usually  about  four- 
teen syllables,  and  were  divided  into  two  distinct  parts  about  the  end 
of  the  eighth  syllable ;  and  the  words  were  so  selected  and  arranged 
that  at  least  two  leading  words  in  the  first  section,  and  at  least  one 
word  in  the  second  section,  began  with  the  same  letter.  Thus : 
Ac  now  is  religion  a  rider,  !j  a  roainer  about, 
A  Zeader  of  /ovc-days,  ij  and  a  /ond-buyer. 

Sometimes  printed  thus : 

Ac  now  is  religion  a  rider, 

A  reamer  about, 
A  /eader  of  Zove-days, 

And  a  /ond- buyer. 

But  in  the  old  manuscript  copies,  it  is  always  found  written  in  the  long 
lines,  with  a  mark  of  some  kind  to  show  the  division  into  sections. 

\A^yekliffe. 
John  Wyckliffe,  1324-1384,  known   among  Protestants  as  "The 
Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation,"  may  almost  be  styled  also  the 
Father  of  English  Prose,  as  his  contemporary,  Cliaucer,  is  the  Father 


CHAUCER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      27 

of  English  Poetry.  Wyckliife  was  at  least  one  of  the  earliest  writers 
who  in  plain  and  vigorous  prose  addressed  the  common  people  in 
words  familiar  to  the  hearths  and  homes  of  England. 

Wyckliife  wrote  many  treatises :  some  learned,  addressed  to  scholars 
and  the  higher  orders,  and  some  in  homely  phrase,  addressed  to  the 
common  people.  But  his  chief  literary  work  was  A  Translation  of 
the  Holy  Bible. 

The  First  English  Version.  —  Separate  portions  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures had  been  translated  into  English  before  this  time.  But  Wyck- 
liffe's  was  the  first  translation  of  the  whole  Bible  into  English.  It  was 
completed  in  1382,  and  revised  in  1388. 

Character  of  the  Version.  —  WycklifFe's  translation  was  made  directly 
from  the  Latin  Vulgate,  not  from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek.  It 
is  extremely  literal,  and  is  marked  by  great  homeliness  of  style,  stu- 
diously avoiding  the  language  of  scholars  and  of  courtly  people. 

Influence.  —  WycklifFe's  Version  was  much  used  in  his  own  day,  and 
for  some  generations  following,  and  it  had  great  influence  both  upon 
English  speech  and  religious  opinions.  Moreover,  the  movement  which 
it  inaugurated  led  finally,  in  a  later  day,  to  the  formation  of  the  Ver- 
sion now  in  common  use. 

Mandeville. 

Sir  John  Mandeville,  1300-1372,  is  the  earliest  notable  instance  of 
the  genuine  English  Traveller,  "The  Bruce  of  the  fourteenth  century." 

His  Travels.  —  Mandeville  left  home  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  and 
travelled  for  thirty-four  years,  going  first  to  Jerusalem,  and  then  on 
eastward  into  the  remotest  parts  of  Asia.  On  returning,  he  wrote  a 
book  describing  some  of  the  marvellous  things  that  he  had  seen. 

His  Book.  —  Tliis  book  of  Voyage  and  Travel  was  written  by  him 
at  first  in  Latin,  then  in  French,  then  in  English.  It  was  translated 
into  Italian,  Spanish,  Dutch,  and  German.  Books  of  travel  were  not 
so  common  then  as  they  are  now,  and  this  work  of  Mandeville's,  giving 
an  account  by  an  eye-witness  of  remote  regions  and  nations,  the  very 
existence  of  which  was  almost  unknown  among  the  people  of  Europe, 
was  read  with  the  greatest  avidity.  With  the  credulity  of  the  age,  he 
embodied  in  his  work  every  grandam  tale  that  came  in  his  way  ;  yet, 
on  the  whole,  he  is  worthy  of  credit  wlien  describing  what  came  under 
his  own  observation.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  him  in  one  page  giving 
a  sensible  account  of  something  which  he  saw,  and  in  the  next  repeat- 
ing with  equal  seriousness  the  story  of  Gog  and  Magog,  and  of  men 
with  tails,  or  the  account  of  the  Madagascar  bird  which  could  carry 
elephants  through  the  air.  The  work  is  interesting  as  one  of  the 
earliest  specimens  of  English  prose. 


CHAPTER   III. 
Early   Scotch    Poets. 

(1400-1500.) 

From  the  time  of  Chaucer,  for  a  period  of  nearly  two  centuries,  the 
succession  of  minstrels  and  poets  seems  to  have  been  limited  to  the 
northern  part  of  the  island,  nearly  all  the  poetical  writers  of  any  note 
in  this  period  being  Scotchmen.  ' 

These  early  Scotch  poets  are  Barbour,  Wyntoun,  James  I,  of  Scot- 
land, Blind  Harry,  Henry  son,  Dunbar,  Gawin  Douglas,  and  Lindsay. 

Barbour. 

John  Barbour,  1320  (?)-1396,  Archdeacon  of  Aberdeen,  and  a  con- 
temporary of  Chaucer's,  was  a  poet  of  considerable  note. 

Barbour  wrote  two  extended  poems.  The  Brute,  a  metrical  chron- 
icle, tracing  the  Scottish  kings  back  to  Brutus  of  Troy,  and  The  Bruce, 
recounting  the  warlike  deeds  of  the  Scottish  hero,  Robert  Bruce. 

Character  of  The  Bruce.  —  Barbour  calls  The  Bruce  a  Romaunt.  By 
this  we  are  not  to  understand  that  the  work  is  a  fiction,  but  that  the 
deeds  of  the  hero  are  in  themselves  romantic.  Barbour's  work,  though 
in  verse,  is  an  important  historical  document,  being  a  metrical  chron- 
icle of  the  great  Scottish  hero,  written  soon  after  his  death,  and  while 
the  facts  were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.  It  is  indeed  a  complete 
history  of  the  memorable  transactions  by  which  Robert  I.  asserted  the 
independence  of  Scotland ;  at  the  same  time,  it  has  no  little  of  poetic 
fire  and  of  rhythmical  harmony.  The  poem  consists  of  more  than 
12,500  lines,  of  which  more  than  2,000  are  occupied  with  the  battle 
of  Bannockburn. 

Wyntoun. 

Andrew  Wyntoun,  1350  (?)-1430  (?),  Prior  of  St.  Serfs,  Lochleven, 
wrote  a  Chronicle  of  Scotland. 

28 


EARLY    SCOTCH    POETS.  29 

Character  of  the  Chronicle.  —  Wyntoun's  Chronicle,  more  ambitious 
than  those  founded  upon  the  Brutus  of  Troy,  gives  the  story  of  the 
Scotch  kings,  in  regular  descent,  from  the  birth  of  Cain !  It  is  in 
eight-syllable  rhyming  couplets.  Though  far  inferior  to  the  Bruce  of 
Barbour,  it  is  not  without  its  value,  both  as  a  specimen  of  the  language, 
and  as  a  representative  of  ancient  manners  and  ideas.  The  later  por- 
tions of  the  Chronicle  also  are  of  considerable  value  as  an  historical 
record. 

James  I.  of  Scotland. 

James  I.  of  Scotland,  1395-1437,  was  a  poet  of  no  little  worth  and 
consideration,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Scottish  poets  whose  writings 
show  signs  of  the  influence  of  Chaucer. 

James  was  the  author  of  The  King's  Quhair  [Quire  or  Book],  and 
perhaps  also  of  some  other  poems,  the  authorship  of  which  is  disputed. 

History  of  James.  —  James,  while  yet  a  boy  of  ten,  was  taken  captive 
by  the  English  monarch,  and  kept  for  nineteen  years  in  captivity  in 
England.  He  was  there  instructed  in  all  the  polite  learning  and  ac- 
complishments of  the  age,  and  appears  to  have  been  particularly  con- 
versant with  the  writings  of  Chaucer.  While  living  in  Windsor  Castle, 
a  prisoner  of  state,  he  met  with  a  characteristic  incident,  which  is  the 
subject  of  his  chief  poem,  already  named.  The  royal  prisoner,  now  in 
the  prime  of  manhood,  glowing  with  honorable  sentiments,  and  ex- 
cluded from  the  means  of  giving  them  expression,  sees  from  his  palace- 
prison  a  fair  and  noble  lady  walking  in  the  adjacent  garden.  He 
becomes  enamored  of  the  lady,  and  writes  the  poem  in  her  honor. 

James's  End.  —  This  graceful  and  polished  monarch  was  suited  to  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  civilization  than  that  which  prevailed  in  Scot- 
land in  the  fifteenth  century.  Though  not  lacking  in  strength  or 
courage,  he  was  unequal  to  the  task  of  curbing  those  fierce  Scottish 
nobles,  by  a  party  of  whom  he  was  finally  assassinated  in  1437,  at  the 
age  of  forty-two.  When  the  assassins  were  trying  to  break  into  his 
apartments,  a  staple  or  bar  being  wanted  to  fasten  the  door,  Catherine 
Douglas,  a.  lady  attendant  upon  the  queen,  thrust  her  arm  into  the 
bolt-hole,  and  so  kept  it,  until  the  limb  was  entirely  crushed  by  the 
bloody  miscreants.  The  queen  herself  rushed  between  them  and  the 
object  of  their  vengeance,  vainly  endeavoring  to  receive  upon  her  own 
person  the  multiplied  wounds  that  were  inflicted  upon  his.  Such  was 
the  end  of  the  ill-fated  James.  He  was  a  true  poet  and  a  true  man. 
He  deserved  well  of  woman's  love,  and  he  was  rewarded  with  a  true 
and  heroic  constancy. 
3* 


30  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Blind  ;^arry. 

Henry  the  Minstrel,  or  Blind  Harry,  a  wandering  Scotch  minstrel, 
was  the  author  of  a  poem  called  Sir  William  Wallace,  in  twelve  books, 
supposed  to  have  been  written  about  the  year  1470. 

Character.  —  As  a  poet,  Blind  Harry  cannot  be  rated  very  high,  and 
his  Wallace  was  supposed  at  one  time  to  be  untrustworthy  in  its  nar- 
rative ;  but  recent  investigations  have  shown  that  its  author  must  have 
been  in  possession  of  valuable  authentic  materials.  Many  incidents 
unknown  to  other  Scottish  authors  are  corroborated  by  English  an- 
nalists and  by  records  published  only  recently. 

Henryson. 

Robert  Henryson  was  an  early  Scottish  poet  of  some  celebrity,  of 
whose  personal  history  little  is  known  except  that  he  was  schoolmaster 
at  Dunfermline,  and  that  he  died  before  1508. 

Henryson' s  Works.  —  Henryson  wrote  The  Testament  of  Fair  Cre- 
seide,  as  a  sequel  to  Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Creseide ;  and  a  translation 
of  jEsop's  Fables.  One  of  these  fables,  The  Town  Mouse  and  the 
Country  Mouse,  is  often  referred  to  for  its  humor  and  spirit. 

Dunbar. 

William  Dunbar,  1465-1530,  is  the  most  illustrious  of  Scotch  poets, 
except  Scott  and  Burns.  Prof  Craik  calls  Dunbar  "  The  Chaucer  of 
Scotland,"  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  pronounces  him  to  be,  without  excep- 
tion, "  a  poet  unrivalled  by  any  that  Scotland  has  ever  produced." 

Dunbar's  History.  —  Dunbar  was  educated  at  the  University  of  St. 
Andrew's,  and-became  a  friar  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  In  this  capac- 
ity he  spent  several  years  as  a  travelling  preacher,  living  on  the  alms 
of  the  pious,  through  Scotland,  England,  and  France.  He  was  also 
employed  on  various  occasions  in  conducting  negotiations  for  King 
James  IV.  with  foreign  courts,  and  in  this  capacity  he  visited  Germany, 
Spain,  and  Italy,  as  well  as  France  and  England.  By  these  means  he 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  men  and  of  affairs  which  aided  him  in  the 
composition  of  his  works. 

His  Works.  —  Dunbar  was  master  of  almost  every  kind  of  verse.  His 
poems  are  divided  into  three  classes:  The  Allegorical,  the  Moral,  and 
the  Comic.  His  chief  allegorical  poem  is  The  Dance  of  the  Seven 
Deadly  Sins  through  Hell.  One  of  the  best  specimens  of  his  Moral 
pieces  is  The  Merle  and  the  Nightingale,  in  which  these  two  rival 
songsters  debate  in  alternate  stanzas  the  merits  of  Earthlv  and  lleav- 


EARLY    SCOTCH    POETS.  31 

enly  Love.  Of  the  Comic  pieces,  the  most  famous  is  The  Souter  and 
the  Tailor,  an  imaginary  tournament  between  a  shoemaker  and  a  tailor, 
in  the  same  region  where  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins  held  their  dance. 

Gawin  Douglas. 

Gawin  Douglas,  1475-1522,  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  has  the  special  honor 
of  being  the  first  to  translate  into  English  verse  any  ancient  classicj 
Greek  or  Latin. 

Douglas  translated  Virgil's  ^neid  in  an  elegant  and  scholarly  man- 
ner, and  wrote  several  original  poems  possessing  considerable  merit. 

History.  —  Gawin,  or  Gavin,  Douglas  was  soft  of  Archibald,  fifth 
Earl  of  Angus,  surnamed  Bell-the-Cat.  Unlike  most  of  the  members 
of  that  fierce  and  haughty  family,  Gawin  was  trained  to  letters  instead 
of  arms.  He  studied  at  the  University  of  Paris,  entered  the  church, 
and  rose  to  the  bishopric.  He  was  noted  in  that  rude  age  for  his  re- 
finement and  scholarly  tastes. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  one  of  the  most  striking  scenes  in  Marmion,  has 
drawn  a  beautiful  picture  of  Gawin  Douglas.  It  is  the  celebrated  mid- 
night scene  in  the  chapel  of  Tantallon  Tower : 

"A  Bishop  by  the  altar  stood, 
A  noble  lord  of  Douglas  blood, 
With  mitre  sheen,  and  rocquet  white. 
Yet  showed  his  meek  and  thoughtful  eye 
But  little  pride  of  prelacy ; 
More  pleased  that,  in  a  barbarous  age, 
He  gave  rude  Scotland  Virgil's  page, 
Than  that  beneath  his  rule  he  held 
The  bishopric  of  fair  Dunkeld. 
Beside  him  ancient  Angus  stood, 
Doffed  his  furred  gown,  and  sable  hood; 
O'er  his  huge  form,  and  visage  pale, 
He  wore  a  cap  and  shirt  of  mail  ; 
And  leaned  his  large  and  wrinkled  hand 
Upon  the  huge  and  sweeping  brand 
Which  wont  of  yore,  in  battle  fray, 
His  foeman's  limbs  to  shred  away, 
As  wood-knife  lops  the  sapling  spray. 
He  seemed  as,  from  the  tombs  around, 

Rising  at  judgment-day, 
Some  giant  Douglas  may  be  found 

In  all  his  old  array; 
So  pale  his  face,  so  huge  his  limb. 
So  old  his  arms,  his  look  so  grim." 


32  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Lindsay. 

Sir  David  Lindsay,  1490-1555,  a  satiric  poet,  and  a  fit  successor  to 
Dunbar  and  Gawin  Douglas,  closes  the  line  of  early  Scotch  poets. 

History.  —  Lindsay's  personal  history,  as  well  as  his  poetry,  is  inti- 
mately mingled  with  the  afiairs  of  the  Scottish  Court,  and  particularly 
with  those  of  his  sovereign,  James  V.  While  James  was  a  boy,  Lind- 
say was  his  attendant,  carver,  cup-bearer,  purse-master,  chief-cubicular, 
in  short  his  man  Friday,  bearing  the  little  fellow  on  his  back,  and 
dancing  antics  for  his  amusement.  James,  on  coming  to  the  throne,  did 
not  forget  the  poet,  but  gave  him  the  valuable  office  of  King-at-arms. 

His  Poetry.  —  Lindsay's  poems  are  entirely  satirical,  and  have  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  Dunbar's  satires.  Like  Dunbar,  Lindsay  was 
vituperative  and  wanting  in  refinement,  yet  bold,  vigorous,  and  biting. 
The  chief  objects  of  his  satire  were  the  clergy,  whom  he  lashed  with- 
out mercy,  (fne  of  his  pieces,  The  Play  of  the  Three  Estates,  is  a 
pungent  satire  upon  the  three  great  political  orders  —  monarch, 
barons,  and  clergy.    Strange  to  say,  it  was  acted  before  the  Court. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Age   before   Spenser, 
(isoo-isso.) 

The  authors  brought  together  in  the  present  Chapter  are  in  the 
main  connected  with  the  long  and  memorable  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
1509-1547,  or  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

This  period  is  known  in  general  history  as  the  age  of  the  Refor- 
mation. The  great  names  most  conspicuously  associated  with  it  are 
Henry  VIII.,  Francis  I.,  Charles  V.,  Leo  X.,  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael, 
Luther,  Calvin,  Erasmus,  Wolsey,  More,  and  Cranmer. 

The  Art  of  Printing.  —  The  invention  of  the  art  of  printing,  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  authorship, 
as  to  every  other  art  and  enterprise. 

Effect  of  Printing  on  Authorship.  —  The  writings  of  Chaucer,  Wyck- 
liffe,  and  other  early  authors,  were  in  a  certain  sense  published  among 
their  contemporaries.  That  is,  copies  of  these  works  were  made  and  cir- 
culated in  manuscript  by  friends  and  admirers,  and  were  read  to  select 
circles  in  the  halls  of  the  nobility  and  the  gentry,  at  stalls  in  churches 
and  monasteries,  at  fairs  and  other  public  places,  or  by  stealth  at  the 
private  meetings  of  guilds  and  sectaries.  To  such  an  extent  a  book 
was  published.  But  publication,  in  the  sense  of  the  word  now  under- 
stood, was  first  made  possi})le  by  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing, 
and  it  has  added  enormously  to  the  growth  of  authorship.  So  great 
has  been  the  effect  of  this  and  of  other  causes  upon  the  matter  of 
authorship,  that  more  works  are  now  produced  in  English  in  a  single 
year  than  all  that  e?:isted  in  the  language  from  the  earliest  times  down 
to  the  time  of  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing.  The  few  authors 
and  works  enumerated  in  the  preceding  chapters  include  all  of  any 
value  down  to  the  time  of  Caxton,  the  first  English  printer.  From  his 
time,  books  grew  apace. 

C  33 


34  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Caxton. 

William  Caxton,  1412-1492,  the  first  English  printer,  like  all  the 
early  printers,  was  himself  a  man  of  learning,  and  wrote  many  of  the 
works  which  he  printed.     Most  of  them  were  translations. 

Sir  Thomas  More. 

Sir  Thomas  More,  1480-1535,  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England, 
was,  next  to  Erasmus  and  Cardinal  Wolsey,  the  most  conspicuous  and 
shining  character  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  He  was  a  man  of 
wonderful  versatility  as  well  as  force  of  genius,  being  equally  distin- 
guished as  a  statesman,  a  man  of  lively  wit,  a  scholar,  and  a  devout 
Christian. 

Works.  —  More  wrote  many  works,  mostly  of  a  controversial  kind. 
The  only  work  by  v/hich  he  is  now  known  is  The  Utopia. 

The  Utopia.  -  This  word,  derived  from  the  Greek  oi,  {not)  and  rdTrof 
(place),  and  meaning  literally  "  Nowhere,"  is  the  name  given  by  Sir 
Thomas  More  to  an  imaginary  island  which  he  feigns  to  have  been 
discovered  by  one  of  the  companions  of  Amerigo  Vespucci.  This 
island  is  made  the  scene  of  Sir  Thomas's  famous  political  romance. 
Here  he  pictures  a  commonwealth  in  which  all  the  laws  and  all  the 
customs  of  society  are  wise  and  good. 

Skelton. 

John  Skelton,  1460-1529,  was  a  poet  of  some  note  in  the  early  part 
of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Erasmus  styled  him  "  the  light  and  orna- 
ment of  English  letters." 

Although  this  encomium  is  plainly  undeserved,  it  yet  shows  that 
Skelton  must  have  had  abilities  above  the  common  order. 

History.  —  Skelton  studied  at  Cambridge,  and  afterwards  took 
orders  in  the  Church.  He  was  made  poet-laureate,  but  wore  the  crown 
with  little  pretension  to  dignity  or  grace.  He  had  much  reputation 
for  learning  and  wit,  and  was  tutor  to  the  young  Duke  of  York,  after- 
wards Henry  VIII.  His  works  are  not  very  numerous,  and  to  a 
modem  reader  not  very  attractive.  The  cliief  of  them  are  A  Dirge 
on  Philip  Sparrow,  and  Why  Come  Ye  Not  to  Court,  the  latter  a 
satire  on  Cardinal  Wolsey. 

Latimer. 

Hugh  Latimer,  1472-1555,  a*  Bishop  o£  the  English  Church  in  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII.,  was  celebrated  beyond  all  the  English  Re- 
formers for  his  pulpit  eloquence. 


THE    AGE    BEFORE    SPENSER.  35 

Latimer's  Sermons  have  been  published  in  2  vols.,  8vo.  They  are 
remarkable  for  a  familiarity  and  drollery  of  style,  which  would  hardly 
be  tolerated  in  polite  congregations  now,  though  it  was  very  popular, 
and  produced  a  powerful  impression  then. 

Wyatt. 

Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  1503-1542,  was  an  accomplished  diplomatist 
and  statesman  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Wyatt  is  also  favorably 
known  as  a  poet. 

His  Career.  —  Wyatt  entered  Cambridge  at  a  very  early  age,  was 
graduated,  and,  through  strong  family  influence,  rose  high  in  Court 
favor  under  Henry  VIII.  During  the  stormy  time  between  the  out- 
break of  the  Reformation  and  the  peace  of  Augsburg,  Wyatt  was  am- 
bassador for  two  years  at  the  Court  of  Charles  V.  of  Germany.  Once 
or  twice  under  a  cloud,  he  finally  died  high  in  the  King's  favor. 

His  Poetry.  —  Wyatt,  like  so  many  of  the  statesmen  of  that  day, 
also  cultivated  the  muses.  He  was  an  accomplished  cavalier  and  a 
writer  of  verses  after  the  approved  fashion.  He  is  generally  classed 
with  Surrey,  and  their  poems  have  often  been  published  in  the  same 
volume.  Wyatt's  love-poetry  is  tender  and  graceful,  but  somewhat 
spoiled  by  the  conceits  of  his  Italian  models.  His  satires  are  more 
idiomatic  and  more  spirited. 

Surrey. 

Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  1516-1547,  one  of  the  brilliant 
ornaments  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  is  distinguished  in  letters  by 
his  Sonnets  and  Songs,  and  especially  by  his  being  the  first  writer  of 
Blank  Verse  in  English. 

His  Career. — Surrey  studied  at  Oxford  ;  in  1535  he  married  Lady 
Frances  Vere ;  he  served  in  the  wars  of  Henry  VIII.  against  France ; 
fell  into  disfavor,  and,  in  1547,  was  beheaded  upon  the  absurd  charge 
of  high  treason. 

His  Poetry.  —  Surrey  was  the  composer  of  a  number  of  songs  and 
sonnets,  which  have  appeared  in  many  editions.  His  sonnets  are 
mostly  dedicated  to  "The  Fair  Geraldine,"  the  daughter  of  Gerald 
Fitzgerald,  Earl  of  Kildare.  Besides  these  original  poems,  Surrey 
translated  the  first  and  fourth  books  of  Virgil  in  "  strange  metre.'* 
This  "strange  metre"  is  blank  verse,  —  its  first  appearance  in  Eng- 
lish literature. 


36 


ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 


Tusser. 

Thomas  Tusser,  1523-1580,  is  one  of  the  earliest  English  didactic 
poets. 

Tusser  was  born  at  Rivenhall,  Essex,  and  "  was  successively  musi- 
cian, schoolmaster,  serving -man,  husbandman,  grazier,  poet,  more 
skilful  in  all  than  thriving  in  any  vocation,"  Fuller.  He  wrote  A 
Hundred  Good  Points  of  Husbandry,  being  a  practical  treatise^  in 
rhyme,  on  farming. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Spenser,  Shakespeare,  and  Bacon,  and  their 
Contemporaries. 

(1S50-162S.) 

The  writers  who  are  brought  together  in  the  present  Chapter  flour- 
ished during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.,  or  from  1550  to 
1625,  They  have  been  arranged  into  three  Sections,  under  the  heads 
severally  of  Spenser,  Shakespeare,  and  Bacon. 

Spenser,  Shakespeare,  and  Bacon  were  to  some  extent  contemporary. 
Yet  there  was  in  each  case  a  perceptible  interval  of  at  least  fifteen 
years.  Spenser  was  at  his  meridian  about  1595,  Shakespeare  about 
1610,  and  Bacon  about  1625.  A  still  greater  separation  was  produced 
by  their  diflerent  associations  and  habits  of  living.  The  dramatists 
of  that  day  formed,  to  a  great  extent,  a  class  by  themselves,  living 
mostly  at  taverns,  and  having  little  social  intercourse  with  those  in 
the  higher  circles.  Spenser,  on  the  other  hand,  and  other  poets  of  his 
class,  were  mostly  connected  with  the  higher  orders,  either  as  members 
or  as  retainers  of  some  noble  family,  and  were  under  influences  very 
diflerent  from  those  which  prevailed  among  the  dramatists. 

The  period  included  in  this  Chapter  is  known  in  history  as  the 
secondary  stage  of  the  Reformation.  Among  the  great  events  of  the 
period  are  the  Spanish  Armada,  and  the  rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic. 
Among  its  great  names  are  Elizabeth,  and  her  two  leading  counsellors, 
Cecil  and  Walsingham,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  the 
Dukes  of  Alva  and  Parma,  Henry  of  Navarre,  Conde,  Coligny,  and 
William  the  Silent. 

I.    SPENSER   AND   CONTEMPORARV   POETS. 

The  authors  described  in  this  Section  are  in  the  main  associated 
with  the  time  of  the  poet  Spenser,  and  with  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliz^ 
abeth,  1558-1603,  or  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
4  37 


38  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Spenser. 

Edmund  Spenser,  1553-1599,  is  the  next  great  name  in  English 
literature  after  that  of  Chaucer.  His  principal  work.  The  Fairy 
Queen,  is  one  of  the  chief  treasures  of  the  language.  This  poem  adds 
an  undying  lustre  to  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  of  itself  suf- 
ficient to  make  any  age  famous. 

Early  Career.  —  Spenser  was  born  in  London,  in  humble  circum- 
stances. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge.  After  leaving  the  Univer- 
sity in  1576,  at  the  age  of  twenty -three,  he  spent  two  years  in  the  north 
of  England.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  he  returned  to  London,  and 
published  in  1579  his  first  volume.  The  Shepherd's  Calendar.  This 
is  a  pastoral  poem,  in  twelve  eclogues,  modelled  to  some  extent  after 
the  eclogues  of  Virgil. 

Connection  with  Sidney  and  Leicester.  —  About  this  time  Spenser 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  of  Sidney's  uncle, 
the  powerful  Earl  of  Leicester,  -and  thenceforward  the  fortunes  of  the 
poet  are  mixed  up  a  good  deal  with  the  affairs  of  that  illustrious  family. 
Through  this  source  he  obtained,  in  1580,  the  appointment  of  secretary 
to  the  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  some  grants  in  connection  with 
it  of  considerable  pecuniary  value.  In  1586,  he  received  from  the 
Crown,  through  the  interposition,  it  is  supposed,  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
a  grant  of  three  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Ireland,  being  part  of  the 
forfeited  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond. 

Connection  with  Raleigh.  —  While  Spenser  was  living  at  Kilcolman 
Castle,  on  his  Irish  estates,  he  received  a  visit  from  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
who  had  obtained  from  the  Crown  ten  thousand  acres  of  the  same  for- 
feited estates.  During  this  visit,  Spenser  read  to  Raleigh  so  much  of 
the  Fairy  Queen  as  was  then  written,  namely,  the  first  three  books. 
By  the  advice  of  Raleigh,  Spenser  went  forthwith  to  London,  and 
published  these  three  books,  in  the  beginning  of  1590.  The  reception 
of  the  work  was  enthusiastic.  It  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  stately 
solemnities  of  the  age  and  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  it  brought 
the  author  not  only  immediate  fame,  but  a  substantial  pension  from 
the  Queen. 

His  Misfortunes  and  Death.  —  The  Englishmen,  Raleigh,  Spenser, 
and  others,  who  had  been  put  in  possession  of  the  forfeited  estates  of 
the  Irish  rebels,  were  necessarily  odious  to  the  Irish  peasantry.  This 
irritation  became  at  length  so  great,  that  in  1598  it  broke  out  into 
open  insurrection.  The  insurgents  attacked  Kilcolman  Castle,  plun- 
dered, and  set  fire  to  it.  Spenser  and  his  wife  escaped,  but  a  new-born 
infant  perished  in  the  flames.     He  took  refuge  in  London,  and  there, 


SPENSER    AND    CONTEMPORARY    POETS.    39 

after  a  few  months  of  painful  anxiety,  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-five. 
He  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Plan  of  the  Fairy  Queen.  —Spenser's  chief  work.  The  Fairy  Queen, 
was  left  unfinished.  His  plan  contemplated  twelve  Books,  each  Book 
composed  of  twelve  Cantos.  Only  six  Books  were  completed.  The 
poem  is  of  the  allegorical  kind.  Each  book  has  a  story  and  a  hero 
of  its  own,  with  a  series  of  connected  adventures,  all  intended  to  illus- 
trate some  one  great  moral  virtue.  Besides  the  heroes  and  heroines 
of  the  several  books,  there  is  one  superior  hero,  Prince  Arthur,  who 
intervenes  in  each  book,  to  rescue  its  particular  hero  in  his  extremity. 
This  common  hero  represents  Magnificence,  or  the  embodiment  of  all 
human  excellence,  and  is  in  the  end  to  be  united  to  the  Queen,  Glo- 
riana ;  in  other  words,  heroism  is  to  be  glorified. 

Character  of  his  Poetry.  —  As  a  scene-painter,  Spenser  is  unrivalled. 
No  poem  in  the  language,  no  poem  probably  in  any  language,  equals 
the  Fairy  Queen  in  the  number,  variety,  and  gorgeous  vsplendor  of  its 
scenes.  The  author's  power  of  invention  seems  exhaustless,  and  he 
fairly  revels  in  the  never-ending  pictures  of  bewildering  enchantment 
which  come  at  his  bidding.  From  the  very  luxuriance  of  his  imagi- 
nation, however,  he  often  forgets  himself,  and  loses  the  thread  of  his 
story ;  and  he  lacks  the  exactness  of  thought  which  marks  the  work 
of  that  other  great  prince  of  dreamers,  John  Bunyan. 

His  Versification.  —  As  a  versifier,  Spenser  is  wonderful  for  the 
freedom,  variety,  and  sweetness  of  his  rhythms.  His  words  come 
pouring  forth  in  an  endless  tide  of  song.  His  marvellous  facility  in 
versifying,  however,  made  him  careless;  and  he  lacks  accordingly 
something  of  that  perfect  finish  in  his  rhythms  which  is  to  be  found 
in  some  other  masters  of  song.  The  stanza  used  in  the  Fairy  Queen 
is  one  invented  by  the  author,  and  is  known  as  the  Spenserian  Stanza. 
This  stanza  has  been  much  used  by  later  poets,  particularly  by  Byron. 

Sidney. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney,  1554-1586,  was  one  of  the  special  ornaments  of 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  was  possessed  by  nature,  not  only 
of  high  talents,  but  of  a  certain  nobleness  of  disposition  which  made 
him  the  object  of  almost  universal  admiration. 

His  Education.  —  Sidney's  education  was  ordered  with  the  greatest 
care ;  and  being  connected  by  birth  and  alliance  with  the  most  distin- 
guished families  in  the  kingdom,  he  had  no  lack  of  opportunities  for 
displaying  his  extraordinary  abilities  to  the  best  advantage.  He  at- 
tended for  a  time  at  Oxford,  and  then  at  Cambridge,  and  afterwards 
went  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  study,  in  connection  with  travel. 


40  ENGLISH     LITERATURE. 

The  Arcadia.  — The  Arcadia  is  a  sort  of  philosophical  romance.  It 
was  for  a  time  almost  universally  popular,  but  has  since  fallen  into 
general  neglect. 

The  Defence  of  Poesie.  —  The  other  principal  prose  work  of  Sidney 
is  Tiie  Defence  of  Poesie.  It  has  received  the  commendation  of  the 
highest  critics,  and  is  still  occasionally  read.  Though  Avritten  in  a 
style  now  antiquated,  it  is  in  some  respects  to  this  day  the  best  argu- 
ment extant  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats. 

Military  Career.  —  Sidney's  great  ambition  was  to  be  distinguished 
as  a  soldier.  He  obtained  a  command  in  the  war  then  going  on  in 
Holland,  but  his  career  was  brought  to  a  speedy  termination.  He  was 
mortally  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Zutphen,  and  after  lingering  for  a 
few  days,  died  in  the  arms  of  his  wife,  October  7,  15S6,  in  the  thirty- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

His  Character.  —  Sidney  was  the  intimate  friend  and  patron  of 
Spenser,  and  in  his  character  and  life  was  the  actual  embodiment  of 
this  great  poet's  ideal.  The  extraordinary  hold  which  he  had  upon 
the  minds  of  his  contemporaries  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  suppos- 
ing him  to  have  been  gifted  to  an  unusual  degree  with  those  ennobling 
qualities  which  Spenser  has  shadowed  forth  in  Sir  Calidore,  or  The 
Legend  of  Courtesy.  Sidney  was  indeed  distinguished  even  as  an 
author:  but  his  main  distinction  grew  out  of  his  character  as  a 
man ;  —  as  one  who  could  be  a  graceful  courtier  without  duplicity,  a 
man  of  fashion  without  frivolity,  a  warrior  and  a  hero  without  loss  of 
rank  in  the  Court  of  the  Muses ;  one  who  was  successful  in  almost 
every  walk  of  honorable  enterprise  without  incurring  the  envy  or  the 
reproach  of  his  competitors ;  one,  in  whom  the  most  ordinary  affairs  of 
life  became  invested,  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen,  with  some  peculiar 
fitness  —  whose  every  sentiment  was  a  melody  —  whose  every  act  was 
rhythmical  —  whose  whole  life  indeed  was  one  continued  poem.  '*  He 
trod  from  his  cradle  to  his  grave  amid  incense  and  flowers,  and  he  died 
in  a  dream  of  glory." 

Raleigh. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  1552-1618,  is  famous  as  a  courtier,  an  adven- 
turer, and  a  writer. 

Early  Career.  —  Raleigh  was  born  in  Devonshire,  studied  at  Oxford, 
served  as  a  volunteer  in  France  and  the  Netherlands  on  the  Huguenot 
side  for  a  number  of  years,  and  afterwards  in  Ireland,  during  Des- 
mond's rebellion.  He  attracted  the  attention  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as 
tradition  has  it,  by  laying  down  his  cloak  as  an  impromptu  carpet  for 


SPENSER    AND    CONTEMPORARY    POETS.      41 

her  majesty  over  a  muddy  place.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Kaleigh  became 
one  of  the  royal  favorites,  was  knighted,  and  appointed  to  various  high 
and  lucrative  offices  in  the  kingdom. 

How  Regarded  by  his  Contemporaries.  —  He  was  looked  upon  as  the 
flower  of  courtesy  in  an  age  when  court  life  was  the  prominent  phase 
of  English  society ;  he  was,  for  the  times,  an  accomplished  scholar,  a 
bold  adventurer,  a  lover  of  the  muses,  and  a  friend  of  the  poet  Spenser, 
who  honored  him  with  one  of  his  sweetest  sonnets.  Ealeigh  is  thus 
the  type  of  the  England  of  the  sixteenth  century,  —  bold,  hasty,  gal- 
lant, not  over-scrupulous  in  the  choice  of  means,  but  genial  in  manners, 
and,  with  all  its  faults,  full  of  life  and  character. 

Literary  Merits.  —  Kaleigh  just  fell  short  of  becoming  a  fine  lyric 
poet.  His  greatest  work  is  one  in  prose.  The  History  of  the  World, 
which,  however,  is  brought  down  only  to  the  end  of  the  Macedonian 
Empire.  Although,  of  course,  superseded  in  matters  of  fact  by  later 
works,  it  is  regarded  as  a  model  of  style,  and  the  pioneer  of  the  great 
English  school  of  historical  writers. 

Sackville. 

Thomas  Sackville,  1536-1608,  Earl  of  Dorset,  and  Lord  High 
Treasurer  of  England,  was  a  man  of  note  in  letters,  as  well  as  in  affairs 
of  state. 

The  Mirrour  for  Magistrates.  —  In  1557,  Sackville  formed  the  design 
of  a  poem,  entitled  The  Mirrour  for  Magistrates,  of  which  he  wrote 
only  The  Induction,  and  one  Legend,  that  on  the  life  of  Henry  Staf- 
ford, Duke  of  Buckingham. 

Plan  of  the  Poem.  —  In  imitation  of  Dante  and  some  others  of  his 
predecessors,  Sackville  lays  the  scene  of  his  poem  in  the  infernal  re- 
gions, to  which  he  descends  under  the  guidance  of  an  allegorical  per- 
sonage named  Sorrow.  It  was  his  object  to  make  all  the  great  persons 
of  English  history,  from  the  Conquest  downwards,  pass  here  in  review, 
and  each  tell  his  own  story,  as  a  warning  to  existing  statesmen. 

Southwell. 

Robert  Southwell,  1560-1595,  one  of  the  minor  poets  of  the  time  of 
Elizabeth,  is  remembered  with  melancholy  interest  on  account  of  his 
tragical  end. 

Career.  —  Southwell  was  born  of  Catholic  parents,  who  sent  him, 

when  very  young,  to  be  educated  at  the  English  college  at  Douay,  and 

from  thence  to  Rome,  where,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  entered  tlie 

Society  of  the  Jesuits.    At  the  age  of  twenty-foui'  he  returned  to  his 

4* 


42  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

native  country  as  a  missionary,  notwitlistanding  a  law  which  threat- 
ened with  death  all  members  of  his  profession  who  should  be  found  in 
England.  In  1592,  he  was  apprehended  in  a  gentleman's  house,  and 
committed  to  a  dungeon  in  the  Tower,  After  an  imprisonment  of  three 
years,  he  was  executed  at  Tyburn,  with  all  the  revolting  circumstances 
of  cruelty  characteristic  of  the  old  treason  law  of  England.  Through- 
out these  scenes,  Southwell  is  said  to  have  behaved  with  a  mild  forti- 
tude, which  was  the  strongest  commentary  on  his  purity  of  character. 
The  life  of  Southwell  was  short,  but  full  of  grief;  and  the  prevailing 
tone  of  his  poetry  is  that  of  religious  resignation. 

His  Poetry.  — Southwell's  two  longest  poems,  St.  Peter's  Complaint, 
and  Mary  Magdalena's  Tears,  were  written  in  prison.  Though  com- 
posed while  he  was  suffering  cruel  persecution,  no  trace  of  angry 
feeling  occurs  in  them  against  any  human  being  or  institution.  South- 
well's poems  were  for  a  time  exceedingly  popular ;  after  that,  they  fell 
for  a  long  time  into  neglect.  They  have  risen  again  in  public  esti- 
mation in  the  present  day,  a  new  and  complete  edition  of  them  having 
appeared  in  1856. 

Daniel. 

Samuel  Daniel,  1562-1619,  figured  as  a  lyric  poet,  a  dramatist,  and 
a  historian. 

Daniel  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  became  tutor  to  the  Countess  of 
Pembroke.  He  was  associated  in  London  with  Shakespeare,  Marlowe, 
Chapman,  and  others  of  that  class,  and  towards  the  close  of  his  life 
retired  to  a  small  farm  in  the  country.  Pie  wrote  many  poems,  and 
was  in  great  favor  among  his  contemporaries. 

Drayton. 

Michael  Drayton,  1563-1631,  was  a  voluminous  poet  of  much  celeb- 
rity in  his  time,  though  now  little  read. 

Chief  Work.  —  Drayton's  chief  work  was  the  Poly-Olbion,  in  thirty 
Songs  or  Cantos,  and  making  30,000  Alexandrian  lines,  rhyming  in 
couplets.  It  is  a  topographical  description  of  all  the  tracts,  rivers, 
mountains,  and  forests  of  Great  Britain,  intermixed  with  local  tradi- 
tions and  antiquities.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  antiquities  of  Britain, 
expressed  in  verse.  As  a  book  of  antiquities,  it  is  said  to  be  remarkable 
for  its  accuracy  and  for  the  minuteness  of  its  information,  and  it  is  not 
devoid  of  poetry. 

Edward  Fairfax, 1632,  is  well  known  as  the  translator  of 

Tasso. 


SHAKESPEARE   AND   EARLY   DRAMATISTS.     43 

Giles  and  Phineas  Fletcher. 

Giles  Fletcher,  1588-1623,  and  Phineas  Fletcher,  1584-1650,  broth- 
ers, were  poets  of  a  kindred  stamp,  and  were  much  alike  in  their 
characters  and  pursuits. 

Both  were  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge ;  both  were  clergymen ; 
both  are  in  good  estimation  for  poetry  of  a  quiet,  but  pure  and  ele- 
vating character. 

They  were  cousins  of  John  Fletcher,  the  Dramatist,  the  associate  of 
Beaumont. 

Giles  Fletcher's  chief  poem  is  entitled  Christ's  Victory  and  Triumph 
in  Heaven  and  Earth  over  and  after  Death.  The  description  which 
he  gives  of  the  first  meeting  between  Christ  and  the  Tempter  is  sup- 
posed to  have  suggested  to  Milton  some  of  the  scenes  in  his  Paradise 
Regained. 

Phineas  Fletcher's  chief  work  was  The  Purple  Island.  This  was 
an  allegorical  poem,  after  the  style  of  Spenser,  the  "Island"  being 
the  human  body,  its  streams  being  the  veins  and  arteries,  and  the 
moral  and  mental  faculties  of  the  soul  being  the  actors  or  heroes. 

Herbert. 

George  Herbert,  1593-1632,  a  thoughtful  and  quiet  poet  of  this 
period,  was  the  author  of  two  poems,  The  Temple,  and  The  Country 
Parson,  which  have  given  him  a  permanent  place  in  literature. 

Herbert  was  of  a  noble  family,  being  a  younger  brother  of  Lord 
Edward  Herbert  of  Cherbury ;  was  educated  at  Westminster  School 
and  at  Cambridge,  and  took  orders  in  the  Church  of  England.  He 
seems  to  have  led  the  quiet,  retired  life  of  a  country  divine,  and  to 
have  been  governed  by  a  spirit  of  unaffected  piety. 


II.    SHAKESPEARE   AND   THE   EARLY   DRAMATISTS. 

Rise  of  the  English  Drama. 

Miracle  Plays.  —  At  the  dawn  of  modern  civilization,  most  Euro- 
pean countries  had  a  rude  kind  of  theatrical  entertainment,  known  as 
Miracle  Plays,  or  Miracles.  These  plays  were  representations  of  the 
principal  supernatural  events  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  of 
the  lives  of  the  saints. 

The  Miracle  Plays  did  not  undertake  to  exhibit  natural  characters 
and  incidents,  like  the  classic  dramas  of  Greece  and  Eome,  but  to  set 
forth  Scriptural  and  religious  transactions.     In  the  absence  of  print- 


44  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

ing,  they  were  one  means  of  making  known  some  of  the  contents  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  they  were  thought  to  be  favorable  to  the  diffusion 
of  religious  feeling.  They  were  under  the  management  of  the  clergy, 
and  were  acted  by  men  of  the  clerical  order.  They  were  generally 
acted  in  church,  and  often  on  Sunday.  Traces  of  these  Miracle  Plays 
in  England  may  be  found  as  far  back  as  the  Norman  Conquest,  in  the 
twelfth  century ;  possibly  a  little  earlier. 

Moral  Plays.  — The  Miracle  Plays  were  succeeded  by  a  somewhat 
higher  sort  of  drama,  called  Moral  Plays,  or  Moralities,  In  the  Moral 
Plays  persons  were  introduced  representing  abstract  ideas  and  moral 
sentiments,  such  as  Mercy,  Justice,  Truth,  and  so  on.  The  only 
Scriptural  character  retained  in  them  is  the  Devil,  who  is  represented 
in  grotesque  habiliments,  and  who  is  perpetually  beaten  by  an  at- 
tendant character,  called  The  Vice.  The  Moral  Plays  at  first  were 
acted  by  clergymen,  or  by  school-boys,  and  sometimes  by  members  of 
guilds  and  trading  corporations.  Acting  had  not  yet  become  a  distinct 
profession.  The  Moral  Plays  were  introduced  about  the  time  of  Henry 
VI.,  say  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  were  continued  into  the 
reign  of  I^enry  VIII.,  or  nearly  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Interludes.  —  The  next  step  in  the  development  of  the  drama  was  a 
kind  of  plays  called  Interludes.  The  Interludes  were  a  species  of 
farce.  They  were  introduced  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  at  which 
time  also  acting  began  to  be  a  distinct  profession.  In  the  Interludes, 
allegorical  characters  and  abstractions  also  began  to  give  way  to 
characters  taken  from  real  life. 

The  Regular  Drama.  —  The  regular  drama  began  in  England  near 
the  close  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL,  and  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  regular  dramas,  though  growing  out  of  the  theatrical  entertain- 
ments which  had  preceded,  were  formed  after  the  old  classical  models, 
and  also  after  those  of  Spain  and  Italy,  all  of  which  had  now  begun  to 
be  studied  by  dramatic  writers  in  England.  The  regular  dramas  were 
from  the  first  divided  into  Comedies  and  Tragedies,  and  were  in  five 
acts. 

The  first  regular  Comedy  of  which  we  have  any  record  was  Ealph 
Royster  Doyster.  It  was  written  by  Nicholas  Udall,  Master  of  West- 
minster School,  about  the  year  1551.  The  scene  is  in  London,  and 
the  characters,  thirteen  in  number,  represent  the  manners  of  the  middle 
orders  of  the  people  of  that  day. 

Another  early  Comedy,  called  Misogonus,  was  written  about  1560, 
by  Thomas  Richards.  The  scene  is  laid  in  Italy,  but  the  manners 
are  English.  The  character  of  the  domestic  Fool,  which  figures  so 
largely  in  the  old  Comedy,  appears  for  the  first  time  in  tliis  play. 


SHAKESPEARE   AND   EARLY  DRAMATISTS.    45 

The  comedy  of  Gammer  Gurton's  Needle  was  written  about  1565, 
by  John  Still,  afterwards  Lady  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity,  and 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells.  It  is  a  piece  of  low  rustix;  humor,  turning 
upon  the  loss  and  recovery  of  the  needle  with  which  Gammer  (god- 
mother, or  granny)  Gurton  was  mending  a  garment  belonging  to  her 
man  Hodge. 

The  earliest  known  Tragedy  in  English  was  Ferrex  and  Porrex. 
It  was  written  by  Thomas  Sackville,  afterwards  Earl  of  Dorset,  and 
was  played  before  Queen  Elizabeth  at  Whitehall,  by  members  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  in  1561.  It  is  founded  on  early  British  story,  and  is 
full  of  blood  and  civil  broils. 

The  first  English  tragedy  founded  on  a  classical  subject  was  Damon 
and  P>i:hias.     It  was  acted  before  Queen  Elizabeth,  at  Oxford,  in  1566. 

Rapid  Growth  of  the  Drama.  —  From  the  time  of  the  regular  plays 
just  named,  the  drama  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  established 
forms  of  English  literature.  Once  established,  its  growth  was  rapid. 
Before  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  it  had  attained  a  height  and 
splendor  which  threw  into  the  shade  all  other  kinds  of  literary  work. 
Even  the  Fairy  Queen  paled  before  the  rising  sun  of  the  new  Eliza- 
bethan Drama. 

Shakespeare,  the  greatest  of  English  dramatists,  rose  from  these 
humble  beginnings  at  once  into  meridian  splendor."  Some  few  stars, 
however,  are  discernible  in  the  early  dawn  preceding  Shakespeare's 
rise.     These  will  now  be  briefly  noticed. 

JoHisr  Lyly,  1553-1600,  a  dramatic  writer  of  some  note,  was  the 
author  of  nine  plays,  written  mostly  for  Court  entertainments,  and 
performed  by  the  scholars  of  St.  Paul's.  One  of  Lyjy's  works, 
Euphues,  or  The  Anatomy  of  Wit,  exercised  a  most  mischievous  influ- 
ence upon  the  literature  of  the  day,  causing  that  general  use  of  euphu- 
istic  expressions  which  marks  most  of  the  writings  of  his  contempo- 
raries and  immediate  successors. 

EoBEET  Greene,  1560-1592,  was  one  of  the  minor  dramatists  con- 
temporary with  Shakespeare. 

Greene  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  took  orders  in  the  church, 
but  lost  his  preferment,  probably  on  account  of  the  irregularities  of 
his  life.  Besides  his  plays,  Greene  wrote  a  large  number  of  tales  and 
other  prose  pieces,  some  licentious  and  indecent,  others  full  of  repen- 
tance for  his  own  misdeeds  and  serious  exhortations  to  his  fellows  to 
avoid  his  example.  One  of  liis  tracts,  A  Groat's  Worth  of  Wit  Bought 
with  a  Million  of  Kepentance,  is  often  quoted  for  the  light  which  it 
throws  upon  contemporary  literature. 


46  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

George  Peele,  1553-1598,  after  completing  his  studies  at  Oxford, 
came  to  London  and  became  a  writer  and  actor  of  plays,  and  a  share- 
holder with  Shakespeare  and  others  in  the  Blackfriars  Theatre.  Peele 
also  held  the  situation  of  city  poet  and  conductor  of  pageants  for  the 
Court. 

Marlowe. 

Christopher  Marlowe,  1562-1593,  was  the  greatest  of  the  precursors 
of  Shakespeare. 

Marlowe  was  the  son  of  a  shoemaker  in  Canterbury.  He  received, 
however,  a  learned  education,  and  was  graduated  at  Cambridge. 

Marlowe's  first  play,  Tamburlaine  the  Great,  was  written  before  his 
graduation.  It  was  the  first  English  play  in  blank  verse,  and  the  ver- 
sification has  a  peculiar  majestic  swell  and  sonorousness,  which,  though 
verging  upon  bombast,  yet  suggested  and  justified  Ben  Jonson's  phrase 
of  "  Marlowe's  mighty  line." 

Marlowe's  second  play.  The  Life  and  Death  of  Doctor  Faustus,  ex- 
hibits a  far  wider  and  higher  range  of  dramatic  power  tlian  his  first 
tragedy.  The  subject  is  the  same  as  that  of  Goethe's  most  celebrated 
work,  and  many  of  the  characters,  Faust,  Mephistopheles,  Wagner,  etc., 
appear  in  both  works. 

Marlowe  lived  an  irregular  life,  and  died  young,  being  killed  in  a 
miserable  brawl.  He  was  a  man  of  uncommon  genius,  and  was 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  English  dramatic  writer  before  Shakespeare. 

Shakespeare. 

William  Shakespeare,  1564-1616,  is,  by  the  common  consent  of 
mankind,  the  greatest  dramatist,  and  in  the  opinion  of  a  large  and 
growing  number  of  critics,  the  greatest  writer,  that  the  world  has  ever 
produced.  His  writings  created  an  era  in  literature,  and  constitute 
of  themselves  a  special  and  most  important  study. 

His  Life.  —  Our  knowledge  of  the  life  of  Shakespeare  is  very  imper- 
fect, consisting  of  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  outlines.  All  that  we 
can  say  of  him,  on  acceptable  external  evidence,  is  that  he  came  of  a 
good  family  in  Stratford-upon-Avon,  that  his  father  was  a  butcher  or 
a  glover,  and  that  his  mother,  Mary  Arden,  was  slightly  connected 
with  the  gentry.  The  poet  received  a  school  or  academy  education, 
and  probably  nothing  more.  In  1586,  or  1587,  he  removed  to  London, 
being  probably  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  by  his  father's  failure 
in  business.  He  had  previously  married  Anne  Hathaway,  a  woman 
several  years  his  senior.    She  seems  to  have  played  absolutely  no  part 


SHAKESPEARE   AND   EARLY   DRAMATISTS.     47 

in  determining  the  poet's  life  and  genius.  After  establishing  himself 
in  London,  he  took  up  play-writing  and  acting  as  a  profession,  soon 
gained  an  interest  in  the  Blackfriars  Theatre,  acquired  the  friendship 
and  patronage  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  and  retired  to  Stratford  a 
wealthy  man,  for  the  last  few  years  of  his  life.  Such  is  the  substance 
of  all  that  we  know  about  the  life  of  England's  greatest  poet. 

His  Works.  —  The  plays  known  to  be  Shakespeare's  are  thirty-five 
in  number,  and  are  divided  into  Tragedies,  Comedies,  and  Histories. 
Besides  his  plays,  we  have  his  Sonnets,  his  Venus  and  Adonis,  Rape 
of  Lucrece,  The  Lover's  Complaint,  and  Passionate  Pilgrim. 

The  first  collective  edition  of  Shakespeare's  Plays  appeared  in  1623, 
and  generally  passes  by  the  name  of  "The  Folio  of  1623." 


Ben  Jonson. 

Ben  Jonson,  1573-1637,  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  English 
dramatists,  second  to  Shakespeare  only,  of  whom  he  was  a  contempo- 
rary and  a  rival. 

Life.  —  Jonson  was  the  son  of  a  Protestant  clergyman,  who  died  a 
month  before  Ben  was  born.  The  current  tradition  is  that  the  mother 
was  married  again,  the  stepfather  being  a  bricklayer,  and  Ben  him- 
self is  said  to  have  worked  in  making  or  laying  brick.  He  was  for  a 
time  a  pupil  of  the  fiimous  Camden,  at  tlie  Westminster  school,  and 
entered  the  University,  though  his  stay  tliere  was  less  than  a  month. 
He  turned  soldier,  and  gained  distinction  in  the  army  in  the  wars  in 
the  Low  Countries.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  or  thereabouts,  he  entered 
fiilly  upon  the  dramatic  career,  first  as  an  actor,  then  as  an  assistant 
to  otiier  dramatists  in  the  composition  of  plays,  and  finally  as  an 
original  dramatist. 

Principal  Plays.  —  The  following  are  the  titles  of  his  principal 
Plays :  Every  Man  in  His  Humor ;  Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor ; 
Sejanus,  a  Tragedy;  Catiline,  a  Tragedy;  and  a  large  number  of 
comedies,  masques,  and  dramatic  pieces  of  different  kinds. 

Peculiarities  as  an  Author.  —  Jonson  was  accurately  versed  in  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics,  and  insisted  strongly  on  giving  to  the  English 
drama  the  classic  forms,  and  he  was  disposed  to  be  intolerant  and  con- 
temptuous of  those  writers  who  either  were  ignorant  of  Greek  and 
Latin,  or  who  for  any  reason  disregarded  the  classic  rules.  He  was  a 
man  of  genius  and  wit,  as  well  as  scholarship,  and  he  had  among  his 
contemporaries  the  familiar  name  of  Rare  Ben  Jonson.  The  two 
tragedies  which  he  wrote  have  high  merit,  but  his  comedies  are  re- 
garded as  his  best  works. 


48  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

These  two  names  have  to  be  taken  as  indicating  one  poet  rather 
tlian  two,  so  intimate  was  their  literary  partnership.  A  few  facts, 
however,  may  be  stated  separately  of  each. 

Fbancis  Beaumont,  1585-1615,  though  the  younger  of  the  two, 
began  his  literary  career  before  Fletcher,  publishing  a  translation  from 
Ovid,  and  writing  the  Masque  of  the  Inner  Temple  and  Gray's  Inn, 
and  minor  Poems.     He  died  young,  at  the  age  of  thirty. 

John  Fletcher,  1576-1625,  though  ten  years  older  than  his  part- 
ner, was  later  in  beginning  authorship,  and  also  survived  him  ten 
years.  After  the  death  of  Beaumont,  Fletcher  brought  out  fourteen  or 
fifteen  plays,  which  are  exclusively  his  own,  except  that  in  one  of  them 
he  is  said  to  have  had  assistance  from  Rowley.  Fletcher  wrote  no 
undramatic  pieces  of  any  note. 

Their  Partnership.  —  The  literary  partnership  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher  is  one  of  the  most  curious  things  in  literary  history.  Of 
good  birth  and  high  connections,  and  classically  educated,  at  the  ages 
respectively  of  twenty  and  thirty,  in  the  year  1606,  when  the  genius 
of  Shakespeare  was  in  its  meridian  splendor,  and  under  the  influence 
of  its  bewitching  spell,  these  two  young  men,  of  kindred  genius,  were 
drawn  together  as  joint  laborers  for  ten  consecutive  years,  during  which 
they  produced  no  less  than  thirty-seven  or  thirty-eight  plays,  which 
bear  their  joint  name. 

Their  Bank  and  Character.  —  The  dramas  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
stand  higher  than  those  even  of  Ben  Jonson,  and,  of  all  the  dramatic 
writings  of  that  day,  come  nearest  to  the  magic  circle  which  encloses 
Shakespeare.  Their  wonderful  knowledge  of  stage  effect  doubtless 
helped  their  popularity.  They  catered  also,  to  some  extent,  to  the  low 
taste  of  the  age,  by  introducing  licentious  scenes  and  expressions,  which 
exclude  their  plays  both  from  the  stage  and  from  the  domestic  circle 
at  the  present  day. 

George  Chapman,  1557-1634,  is  chiefly  known  as  being  the  first 
English  translator  of  Homer.  He  wrote  very  copiously  also  for  the 
stage,  and  enjoyed  tlie  friendship  of  the  great  dramatists  of  the  day, 
Shakespeare  and  Jonson.  His  i)lays  have  pretty  nearly  passed  into 
oblivion.  His  Homer,  however,  still  survives,  and  is  even  now  in 
good  repute,  and  is  preferred  by  many  to  tliat  of  Pope. 

The  other  dramatists,  contemporary  with,  or  immediately  succeed- 
ing Shakespeare,  are  Thomas  Middleton, 1626,  John  Marston, 


BACON    AND    PROSE    WRITERS.  49 

1634,  Thomas  Decker, 1638,  Jolm  Webster, ,  Philip 

Massinger,  1584-1640,  and  John  Ford,  1586-1639. 

James  Shirley,  1596-1666,  was  the  last  of  the  great  school  of 
dramatists  of  the  Shakespearian  era.  He  was  born  in  London,  and 
educated  at  Cambridge.  He  took  orders  in  the  church,  but  becoming 
a  Catholic,  resigned  his  position,  and  endeavored  to  establish  himself 
as  a  classical  teacher.  Not  succeeding  in  this,  he  began  writing  poems 
and  plays.  The  ordinance  of  the  Long  Parliament,  prohibiting  the 
exhibition  of  stage-plays,  obliged  Shirley  again  to  resort  to  school- 
teaching  as  a  means  of  subsistence.  Subsequently,  however,  he  re- 
sumed liis  chosen  occupation  as  a  dramatist,  and  produced  a  large 
number  of  plays. 


III.     BACON    AND     CONTEMPORARY    PROSE    WRITERS. 

Bacon. 

Francis  Bacon,  Baron  Verulam,  1561-1626,  commonly  known  as 
Lord  Bacon,  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  philosophers. 

His  Opportunities.  —  Bacon  was  gifted  by  nature  with  abilities  of 
the  highest  order,  and  he  had  every  advantage  which  education  and 
high  birth  could  bestow  for  giving  his  abilities  development  and  exer- 
cise. His  father  held  the  highest  office  but  one  in  the  Court  of  Queen 
Elizabeth ;  his  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  natural  abilities  and 
genuine  nobleness  of  character,  as  well  as  of  profound  scholarship ; 
his  tutors  were  men  of  learning  and  genius ;  the  society  in  which  he 
mingled  from  boyhood  included  all  that  was  greatest  and  noblest  in 
tiie  kingdom- 
Bacon  entered  the  University  (Cambridge)  at  the  age  of  twelve,  was 
admitted  to  Gray's  Inn  as  student  of  law  at  sixteen,  and  soon  after 
went  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  himself  in  French  and  of 
studying  foreign  institutions.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1579, 
Bacon,  then  eighteen  years  of  age,  returned  to  England  and  applied 
himself  to  his  legal  studies.  He  rose  rapidly  in  the  profession;  was 
elected  to  Parliament  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  and  continued  to  sit 
in  every  House  of  Commons  until  1614,  a  period  of  twenty-nine  years. 
Else  to  Power.  —  On  the  accession  of  James  L,  1608,  Bacon  rose 
rapidly  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  sovereign.  Bacon  was 
then  at  the  age  of  forty-two.  He  married  a  lady  of  wealth  in  1606, 
was  made  solicitor-general  in  1607,  one  of  the  judges  in  1611,  and 
attorney -general  in  1613,  was  appointed  keeper  of  the  great  seal 
6  D 


60  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

in  1617,  and  lord  high  chancellor  in  1618.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Verulam,  and  in  1620  was  made  Vis- 
count St.  Albans. 

His  Fall.  —  Bacon's  love  of  gold  got  the  better  of  his  nobler  princi- 
l)les.  Though  in  the  receipt  of  a  princely  revenue  from  the  fees  of  his 
office  and  from  his  professional  services,  he  added  still  further  to  his 
income  by  taking  direct  bribes  as  a  Judge  and  giving  decisions  ex- 
pressly for  money. 

Bacon's  downfall  is  one  of  the  most  lamentable  in  history.  Not  that 
he  was  worse  than  thousands  of  others  in  public  position.  But  his 
transcendent  greatness  in  other  respects  makes  his  meanness  only  the 
more  damaging. 

His  Works.  —  Bacon's  works  have  been  published  in  17  vols.,  8vo. 
The  greatest  of  these  is  Instauratio  Magna,  the  great  instauration,  or 
restoration,  of  the  sciences.  Part  first  of  the  Instauratio  is  De  Aug- 
mentis  Scientiarum,  or  of  the  advancement  of  learning.  Part  second 
is  Novum  Organum,  the  new  instrument  or  method  of  pursuing  the 
sciences,  the  term  referring  to  Aristotle's  method,  called  Organum. 
There  are  four  other  parts,  the  whole  forming  a  grand  outline  of  the 
possibilities  of  human  knowledge  and  of  the  methods  of  discovery. 
His  most  popular  work  was  a  small  volume  of  Essays,  of  which  count- 
less editions  have  been  sold.  They  were  written  in  English,  expressly 
for  popular  reading,  and  on  topics  which,  in  his  own  language,  came 
home  to  the  "business  and  bosoms"  of  all.  He  wrote  also  a  collection 
of  Apothegms,  which  has  been  very  popular. 

Style.  — ■  Bacon  has  an  aphoristic  style  of  writing,  which  has  been 
noticed  by  all  critics.  It  occurs  in  the  Novum  Organum,  as  well  as 
in  the  Essays.  It  gives  the  reader  the  idea  of  one  who  has  meditated 
long  upon  what  he  has  to  say,  until  the  truth  about  it  has  become  per- 
fectly clear  to  his  own  mind,  and  then  it  is  put  forth,  not  in  the  shape 
of  argument,  or  for  discussion,  but  as  so  much  fixed  truth,  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  consciousness  of  the  reader.  No  finer  specimens  of 
English  prose  are  to  be  found  than  Bacon's  Essays. 

Roger  Aseham. 

Koger  Aseham,  1515-1569,  is  famous  as  the  tutor  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  as  the  author  of  two  admirable  works,  one  on  archery,  Toxophilus, 
and  one  on  education.  The  Schoolmaster. 

There  is  something  very  genial  and  pleasing  in  the  tone  and  style 
of  these  works,  which  have  made  them  great  favorites.  The  "School- 
master" especially  has  been  held  in  high  esteem,  not  only  for  its 


BACON    AND    PROSE    WRITERS..  61 

excellencies  of  style^  but  for  the  many  valuable  ideas  it  contains  on 
the  subject  of  education,  and  for  the  interesting  pictures  it  gives  us  of 
the  state  of  education  in  those  times. 

Robert  Burton. 

Kobert  Burton,  1576-1640,  a  quaint  and  learned  writer,  is  known 
almost  exclusively  by  his  one  work,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 
The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy  contains  a  vast  amount  of  curious  lore, 
and  the  book  has  been  a  general  favorite  among  scholarly  people, 
who  had  the  learning  and  the  leisure  to  follow  him  in  his  quiet  and 
somewhat  sombre  musings. 

Sir  Richard  Baker. 

Sir  Richard  Baker,  1568-1645,  has  a  place  in  literature  on  account 
of  his  famous  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  England.  Baker's  Chron- 
icle was  about  the  only  history  that  Englishmen  had  until  the  pub- 
lication of  Kapin.  The  critics  denounced  it  as  unscholarly  and 
inaccurate.  But  it  was  written  in  a  pleasant,  entertaining  style,  and 
it  continued  for  a  long  time  to  be  published  and  read,  holding  its 
place  in  the  old-fashioned  chimney-corners,  on  the  same  shelf  with 
the  Family  Bible  and  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs.  Addison,  in  his  pic- 
ture of  Sir  Roger  De  Coverly,  describes  him  as  drawing  "  many  ob- 
servations together,  out  of  his  reading  of  Baker's  Chronicle." 

Hakluyt. 

Richard  Hakluyt,  1553-1616,  contributed  to  the  literature  of  voy- 
ages and  travels  by  the  valuable  collection  which  he  published,  com- 
monly known  as  Hakluyt's  Voyages.  Hakluyt  was  not  a  traveller 
himself,  but  merely  a  publisher  of  the  travels  of  others.  To  his  zeal 
and  industry  it  is  that  we  owe  the  preservation  of  many  accounts  of 
voyages  that  would  otherwise  have  been  lost.  Hakluyt's  Voyages 
contain  an  immense  amount  of  information  relative  to  the  early  set- 
tlement of  America. 

John  Fox. 

John  Fox,  1517-1587,  is  familiarly  known  as  The  Martyrologist. 
Fox  was  educated  at  Oxford,  where  he  attained  high  distinction  for 
scholarship.  His  work  was  first  published  in  one  vol.,  fol.  In  sub- 
sequent editions,  it  was  enlarged  to  2  vols.,  and  then  to  3  vols.,  fol. 
The  title,  or  rather  the  first  part  of  it,  as  given  by  himself,  was,  Acts 
and  Monuments  of  these  Latter  and  Perilous  Days,  Touching  Matters 


62  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

of  the  Church.  It  is  commonly  known  as  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs. 
The  book  has  had  an  enormous  circulation,  especially  in  its  abridged 
forms,  though  it  is  no  longer  read  as  generally  and  devoutly  as  it 
once  was. 

Richard  Hooker. 
Kichard  Hooker,  1553-1600,  is  the  ablest  advocate  of  the  church 
orscanization  of  England  that  has  yet  appeared.  Hooker's  great  work. 
The  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  is  an  elaborate  and  dignified  exposi- 
tion and  defence  of  the  ministry  and  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  is  an  acknowledged  classic  on  that  subject.  The  style  of  his  book 
has  received  universal  and  unqualified  approbation,  both  for  the  ex- 
cellency of  its  English,  and  its  entire  suitableness  to  the  subject.  For 
the  general  soundness  of  his  judgment,  he  has  received  the  name  of 
the  judicious  Hooker. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  English  Bible,  and  Other  Public  Stand- 
ards OF  Faith  and  Worship. 

(13SO-16BO.) 

No  literary  works  in  any  language  exert  so  great  an  influence  on  the 
speech,  the  thoughts,  and  the  doings  of  men  as  those  written  documents 
which  contain  the  popular,  authorized  expression  of  their  religious 
belief  and  forms  of  worship. 

The  Vedas  in  the  Sanskrit  and  the  Koran  in  the  Arabic  are  the 
most  important  literary  treasures  in  their  respective  languages.  So  in 
English,  the  Version  of  the  Scriptures,  the  symbols  of  Faith,  and  the 
forms  of  Public  Worship,  which  have  been  received  and  used  for  many 
generations  by  a  large  majority  of  English-speaking  people,  must,  as 
mere  literary  treasures,  be  regarded  as  second  to  none  wliich  the  lan- 
guage contains.  In  the  present  chapter,  therefore,  a  brief  account  will 
be  given  of  some  of  the  most  important  of  the  works  of  this  kind  which 
exist  in  English.  These  are  the  following:  1.  The  English  Bible, 
2.  The  English  Prayer-Book,  3.  The  Shorter  Catechism,  4.  English 
Hymnody. 

The  movements  which  led  to  the  production  of  these  important  works, 
cover  a  period  of  three  centuries,  from  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  (1350-1650). 

I.     THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE. 

Besides  translations  of  particular  portions  of  the  Bible  into  English, 
some  of  which  go  back  to  a  very  early  date,  various  Versions  of  the 
whole  Bible  have  been  made,  beginning  with  that  of  Wycklifie,  1382, 
5*  53 


64  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

and  ending  with  that  made  in  1611,  and  commonly  known  as  King 
James's,  or  the  Authorized  Version.  Some  account  of  these  several 
Versions  will  now  be  given. 

1.  ^A7'yekliffe's  Version. 

The  first  Version  of  the  entire  Bible  in  English  was  that  made  by 
Wyckliffe  and  his  disciples.     It  was  completed  about  the  year  1382. 

Wyckliffe's  Version  was  made  from  the  Vulgate,  not  from  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  It  is  in  plain  and  homely  phraseology,  and  is  a  fine 
specimen  of  the  prose  English  of  the  fourteenth  century.  It  was  cir- 
culated in  manuscript,  the  art  of  printing  having  not  yet  been  invented. 

After  the  completion  of  Wyckliffe's  Version,  an  interval  of  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  occurred  before  any  further  attempts  were  made  in 
this  direction.  Early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  connection  with 
the  general  religious  reformation,  the  subject  of  an  English  version  of 
the  Scriptures  was  revived,  and  the  work  was  carried  on  without  in- 
terruption for  three-fourths  of  a  century.  This  movement  began  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL,  and  continued  all  through  the  reigns  of 
Edward  VI.,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth,  and  finally  culminated  in  the 
reign  of  James  I.  The  originator  of  this  movement,  and  the  man  who 
did  singly  more  towards  its  accomplishment  than  any  other  one  man, 
was  William  Tyndale. 

2.  Tyndale's  Version. 

William  Tyndale,  1480-1536,  translated  the  New  Testament,  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  other  Historical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament.  His 
New  Testament  first  appeared  in  1525.  The  Version  made  by  Tyn- 
dale was  used  to  a  large  extent  by  all  the  subsequent  Protestant  trans- 
lators ;  it  is  really  the  basis  of  our  present  version.  There  is  in  our 
present  version  more  of  Tyndale  than  of  all  the  other  translators  put 
together. 

The  chief  characteristics  of  Tyndale's  Version  are  these:  1.  He 
translated  directly  from  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  originals,  not  from 
the  Latin  Vulgate.  2.  He  adopted  purposely  the  words  and  idioms 
of  the  common  people,  avoiding  what  were  then  called  "ink-hom 
phrases,"  that  is,  modes  of  expression  taken  from  books  and  men 
of  learning,  and  not  suited  to  the  understanding  of  plain,  unlettered 
people.  This  feature  has  been  to  a  great  extent  perpetuated  in  our 
common  version,  and  is  one  of  its  leading  excellencies.  3.  He  trans- 
lated what  are  called  the  "  ecclesiastical  words."  The  Catholics  and 
some  of   the  Reformers  maintained  that,  in  translating  the  Scrip- 


THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  55 

tures  into  any  modern  language,  the  "ecclesiastical  words,"  instead 
of  being  translated,  should  be  transferred,  with  only  such  changes  of 
spelling  as  might  be  necessary.  Tyndale,  on  the  contrary,  held  that 
every  word,  the  meaning  of  which  was  known,  should  be  literally 
translated.  Accordingly,  for  "grace"  he  said  favor,  for  "penance" 
repentance,  for  "  church  "  congregation,  for  "  priests  "  seniors  or  elders, 
for  "  bishops  "  overseers,  for  "  confessing  "  acknowledging,  for  "  chal- 
ice "  cup,  and  so  on. 

S.   Coverdale's  Version. 

Miles  Coverdale,  1487-1568,  has  the  distinguished  honor  of  being 
the  first  to  give  his  countrymen  the  whole  printed  Bible  in  English. 
Coverdale's  Bible  was  first  printed  on  the  continent,  in  1535.  Cover- 
dale's  Version,  though  by  no  means  equal  to  Tyndale' s,  has  considerable 
merit.  In  regard  to  the  "  ecclesiastical  words,"  Coverdale  pursued  a 
middle  and  a  vacillating  course,  sometimes  translating,  and  sometimes 
transferring  them.  He  translated,  not  from  the  originals,  but  from  the 
Dutch  and  the  Latin. 

4.  Matthe^A^'s  Version. 

The  Bible  known  as  Matthew's  was  the  first  version  in  English  that 
was  regularly  authorized  by  the  King.  It  appeared  in  folio,  in  1537, 
two  years  after  that  of  Coverdale. 

It  has  been  pretty  well  ascertained  that  the  name  Thomas  Matthew, 
affixed  to  this  version,  is  a  fiction.  The  real  author  was  John  Rogers, 
commonly  known  as  the  "  proto-martyr." 

History  of  the  Work.  —  Rogers  was  a  convert  of  Tyndale's,  and  had 
been  associated  with  him  in  the  work  of  translation.  When  Tyndale 
was  put  to  death,  Rogers  continued  and  completed  the  work  on  which 
they  had  been  laboring  together.  As  the  name  of  Rogers  was  associ- 
ated with  that  of  Tyndale,  and  might  have  raised  opposition  in  the 
mind  of  the  King,  the  printers,  in  presenting  the  book  for  licensure, 
put  in  the  title-page  the  convenient  fiction  of  Tliomas  Matthew.  Such 
is  the  now  commonly  received  opinion.  The  work  in  every  part  bears 
the  strongest  internal  evidence  of  being  in  the  main  that  of  Tyndale, 
supplemented  by  his  friend  and  disciple,  John  Rogers. 

5.   The  Great  Bible. 

The  version  known  as  the  Great  Bible  first  appeared  in  1539.  It 
was  not  a  mere  reprint  of  a  previous  version,  but  had  features  of  its 


66  ENGLISH    LITERATUKE. 

own,  giving  it  an  original  and  independent  character.  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  1540,  this  Bible,  without  noticeable  alteration,  was  reprinted, 
with  a  prologue  by  Cranmer.  In  this  form,  it  is  called,  sometimes, 
the  Great  Bible,  sometimes  Cranmer's  Bible.  It  was  a  stately  folio, 
and  was  intended  especially  for  use  in  churches.  All  churches  and 
religious  houses  were  required  to  have  copies  of  it ;  and  no  less  than 
six  large  editions  of  it  were  printed  in  1540  and  1541. 

This  Bible  was  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  English  Church,  from 
1540  to  1568  (excepting  the  interval  of  Mary's  reign).  The  Psalms 
and  most  of  the  other  portions  of  Scripture  found  in  the  Prayer-Book 
were  taken  from  this  version,  it  being  the  one  in  use  when  the  Prayer- 
Book  was  compiled. 

6.   The  Geneva  Version. 

The  English  Protestants  resident  at  Geneva  brought  out  in  that 
city  an  English  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  1560.  This  version  is 
generally  known  as  the  Geneva  Bible.  The  English  refugees  at 
Geneva  were  mostly  Presbyterians.  They  were  dissatisfied  with 
Cranmer's  Bible,  partly  on  account  of  its  expensiveness,  which  put  it 
beyond  the  reach  of  common  people,  but  chiefly  on  account  of  its  sup- 
posed leaning  towards  Episcopacy. 

The  G-eneva  Version  was,  for  the  next  sixty  years,  altogether  the 
most  popular  version  in  England.  No  less  than  eighty  editions  of  it 
were  printed  between  1560  and  1611,  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
the  version  made  by  order  of  King  James.  The  Geneva  Version 
even  kept  its  ground  for  some  considerable  time  after  that  event,  and 
gave  way  only  by  slow  degrees.  Some  of  the  reasons  for  this  popu- 
larity were  the  following:  1.  The  translation  was  in  itself,  in  many 
respects,  an  excellent  one.  2.  It  was,  like  Tyndale's,  comparatively 
free  from  "  ink-horn  phrases,"  and  suited  to  popular  reading.  3,  It 
was,  in  all  its  editions,  in  a  smaller  and  cheaper  volume  than  the 
"  Great  Bible "  of  Cranmer.  4.  It  was  the  first  English  Bible  that 
laid  aside  the  obsolescent  old  black  letter,  and  appeared  in  the  com- 
mon Eoman  type.  5,  It  was  the  first  English  Bible  in  which  the  text 
was  broken  up,  as  at  present,  into  verses.  6.  The  "Notes,'^  explana- 
tory and  homiletical,  which  accompanied  the  text,  were  highly  es- 
teemed, and  added  greatly  to  its  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  common 
people. 

7.   The  .Bishops'  Bible. 

Another  version,  or  revision,  commonly  known  as  the  Bishops' 
Bible,  was  projected  by  Archbishop  Parker,  and  brought  to  completion 


THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  67 

in  1568.  The  work  was  parcelled  out  hj  the  Archbishop  to  fifteen 
men  having  special  eminence  as  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars,  the  re- 
sult of  their  labors  being  revised  by  the  Archbishop  himself.  As  a 
majority  of  the  translators  were  Bishops,  the  version  obtained  the 
name  of  the  Bishops'  Bible,  The  version  was  made  on  the  basis  of 
Cranmer's,  and  was  executed  in  a  creditable  manner ;  and  it  contained, 
as  all  admit,  some  valuable  improvements.  Yet  it  made  little  head- 
way against  the  Geneva  version,  and  did  not  even  entirely  displace 
Cranmer's. 

8.   The  Rheiins  -  Douay  Version. 

The  English  version  of  the  Bible  in  use  among  Catholics  was  made 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  by  Catholic  refugees  living  at  Rheims, 
in  France,  in  1582.  The  New  Testament  was  printed  at  Rheims,  in 
1582,  and  the  Old  Testament  at  Douay,  in  1609.  The  work  is  some- 
times called  the  Rheims-Douay  Version,  and  sometimes  simply  the 
Douay  Version. 

The  Rheims-Douay  Version  is  made  directly  from  the  Vulgate. 
The  translators  give  abundant  evidence  of  scholarsliip,  and  many  of 
their  renderings  challenge  admiration.  Their  diction  is  at  times  just 
sufficiently  archaic  to  give  a  venerable  air  to  their  work ;  and  they 
retain  some  fine  old  English  words  and  phrases  which  have  now  unfor- 
tunately gone  out  of  general  use.  On  the  other  hand  they  are  ex- 
tremely literal,  translating  word  for  word,  and  maintaining  even  the 
Latin  order  of  the  words,  and  they  retain  with  scrupulous  care,  and 
on  principle,  all  the  old  "  ecclesiastical  words."  They  also  give  nu- 
merous expository  notes,  following  in  this  respect  the  example  of  all 
the  previous  versions,  and  especially  that  executed  at  Geneva. 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Bishop  Challoner  made  a 
careful  revision  of  the  Rheims-Douay  Version,  amounting  almost  to  a 
new  version.  Challoner's  work  consisted  mainly  in  abandoning  that 
extreme  literalness  which  marked  the  version  originally,  and  in  mod- 
ernizing, to  some  extent,  its  archaic  diction,  and  bringing  its  expres- 
sions more  within  the  scope  of  current  modern  English.  The  first 
edition  of  it  is  dated  1750. 

9.    King  James's  Version. 

The  English  version  of  the  Bible  in  common  use  among  Protestants, 
and  generally  known  as  the  Authorized  Version,  was  ma.de  in  1611, 
in  the  reign  of  James  I. 

The  King's  plan  was  to  appoint  fifty-four  translators,  divided  into 


58  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

six  companies,  of  which  two  companies  were  to  be  settled  at  Oxford, 
two  at  Cambridge,  and  two  at  Westminster,  and  to  each  company  a 
certain  portion  of  the  Scriptures  was  assigned  for  translation.  Only 
forty-seven  translators  were  actually  appointed.  The  translators  were 
designated  in  1604.  The  work  of  actual  translation,  however,  did  not 
begin  until  1607.  Three  years  of  continuous  labor  were  then  spent 
by  the  several  companies  in  completing  the  particular  part  assigned 
to  each.  Three-fourths  of  a  year  were  afterwards  spent  in  revising 
the  whole  by  a  joint  committee  of  revision,  consisting  of  two  delegates 
from  each  company.  This  committee  having  gone  over  the  whole 
and  settled  the  text,  it  was  put  into  the  hands  of  two,  Bishop  Bilson 
on  behalf  of  the  Bishops,  and  Dr.  Miles  Smith  on  behalf  of  the  Trans- 
lators, to  attend  to  the  printing.     The  work  was  completed  in  1611. 

The  men  engaged  in  this  work  were  taken  mostly  from  the  Uni- 
versities, and  were  among  the  most  conspicuous  scholars  of  their 
day.  A  code  of  rules  was  drawn  up  for  their  guidance,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  was  that  no  notes  or  comments  were  to  be  added. 
Two  other  regulations  were  that  the  Bishops'  Bible  was  to  be  made 
the  basis,  and  that  the  old  ecclesiastical  words  were  to  be  kept.  These 
rules  were  less  rigorously  observed,  the  translators  taking  a  middle 
course.  Only  a  few  of  the  ecclesiastical  words  were  retained,  and  the 
version  as  a  whole  comes  nearer  to  that  of  Tyndale  than  to  any  other. 

The  new  version  soon  displaced  all  other  Protestant  versions,  even 
the  Geneva  gradually  giving  way  to  it;  and  from  that  time  to  the 
present  it  has  been  the  translation  in  common  use  among  all  English 
Protestants.  No  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  any  language  ever  en- 
joyed a  greater  popularity.  Its  literary  character  especially  has 
received  the  highest  commendation.  There  is,  in  the  language,  no 
work  of  equal  value  as  a  specimen  of  English.  Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant alike  have  recognized  its  value  in  this  respect. 

II.    THE    ENGLISH    PRAYER-BOOK. 

Another  of  the  great  treasures  of  English  literature  is  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  according  to  the  Use  of  the  Church  of  England.  As 
a  specimen  of  English  it  is  unequalled  by  anything  that  the  language 
contains,  except  the  English  Version  of  the  I>ible.  When  we  con- 
sider the  influence  which  the  continual  and  reverent  use  of  such  a 
book,  for  more  than  ten  generations,  must  have  had  upon  tlie  lan- 
guage, the  opinions,  the  feelings,  and  the  conduct  of  a  great  people, 
it  is  impossible  not  to  concede  that  it  holds  a  foremost  rank  among 
the  treasures  of  the  language. 


T^E    ENGLISH    PRAYER-BOOK.  59 

The  greater  part  of  the  substance  of  this  book  existed  previously 
in  Latin,  and  is  traceable  to  a  remote  antiquity.  Some  portions  of 
the  service  had  been  translated  into  English  for  the  use  of  the  people 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  at  least  before  the  preparation  of  the 
Prayer-Book  in  its  present  form.  This  earlier  book  of  service,  exist- 
ing with  variations  in  different  dioceses,  and  under  different  reigns, 
but  having  a  substantial  uniformity,  was  called  the  Prymer.  The 
word  appears  to  have  been  originally  derived  from  some  small  man- 
uals, which  were  spread  among  the  people,  of  the  first  and  chief 
lessons  of  religious  belief  and  practice.  This  old  English  Prymer 
contains  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
Litany,  and  many  other  equally  familiar  portions  of  the  present  ser- 
vice. It  formed,  evidently,  the  basis  for  a  large  part  of  the  present 
Prayer-Book. 

On  the  accession  of  Edward  VI.  the  subject  of  preparing  a  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  was  proposed,  and  a  Commission  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  six  Bishops,  and  six  clergy  of  the 
Lower  House  of  Convocation.  This  commission  proceeded  with  due 
deliberation,  and  having  completed  their  labors,  presented  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  to  the  King,  to  be  by  him  laid  before  Parliament. 
The  book,  after  some  discussion,  was  accepted  by  Parliament,  and  an 
Act  of  Uniformity  was  passed,  making  its  use  obligatory.  This  book, 
first  issued  in  1549,  is  called  the  First  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI. 

In  the  following  year  another  Commission  was  appointed  by  the 
King,  consisting  of  Cranmer  and  a  number  of  divines,  to  give  a  revi- 
sion of  the  first  book.  The  book,  as  revised  by  them,  was  reported 
to  Parliament,  adopted,  and  issued,  in  1552,  and  is  known  as  the 
Second  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI. 

On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  Prayer-Book  was  subject  to  a 
further  and  final  revision,  and  was  adqpted  in  its  present  form  in  1559. 
There  was,  hoAvever,  an  additional  collection  of  Prayers  and  Thanks- 
givings upon  Several  Occasions,  appended  to  the  Morning  and  Even- 
ing Prayer,  in  1662. 

Tlie  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  formed  in  the  main  out 
of  materials  previously  existing,  partly  in  English,  partly  in  Latin, 
in  the  service-books  of  the  various  dioceses,  many  of  them  traceable 
to  a  remote  antiquity.  It  was  not  the  work  of  any  one  man,  or  set 
of  men,  though  traces  of  particular  workmen  may  be  found  here  and 
there,  but  was  the  slow  and  steady  outgrowth  of  time,  as  it  is  a  noble 
expression  of  a  great.  God-fearing  race. 


60  ENGLISH    LITERATUEE. 

III.   THE  SHORTER  CATECHISM. 

Another  document  worthy  of  mention  among  the  literary  treasures 
of  the  language  is  the  Shorter  Catechism  prepared  by  the  Assembly 
of  Divines  who  met  at  Westminster  in  1643. 

This  famous  Assembly  was  nearly  six  years  in  session,  having  been 
convened  July  1,  1643,  and  having  adjourned  finally  February  22, 
1649.  It  contained  many  of  the  choicest  spirits  of  the  Presbyterian 
element  in  both  England  and  Scotland.  All  the  documents  which 
they  put  forth,  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Directory  for  Public 
Worship,  the  Form  of  Church  Government  and  Discipline,  and  the 
Catechisms,  are  remarkable  as  mere  literary  productions.  But  none 
of  them  are  to  be  compared  in  this  respect  with  that  known  as  the 
Shorter  Catechism.  As  a  mere  specimen  of  exact  verbal  expression, 
there  probably  has  been  nothing  superior  to  the  Shorter  Catechism 
since  the  days  of  Aristotle. 

To  the  entire  body  of  English-speaking  Presbyterians  all  over  the 
world,  and  to  the  great  majority  of  Congregationalists  also,  this  won- 
derful summary  of  Christian  doctrine  has  formed  a  part  of  the  house- 
hold treasures  of  the  race.  By  long-established  custom  it  has  from 
early  years  been  lodged  in  the  memory  of  nearly  every  Presbyterian 
child ;  it  is  associated,  in  the  minds  of  Presbyterians,  with  deeds  of 
heroic  daring  and  patience,  which  make  it  dear  to  the  heart.  There 
can  be  little  fear  of  mistake,  therefore,  in  placing  this  Shorter  Cate- 
chism of  the  Westminster  Assembly  among  the  literary  treasures  of 
the  language.  The  influence  of  this  Catechism  upon  the  opinions, 
the  conduct,  the  language,  the  modes  of  thought  and  expression,  of 
those  who  have  received  it,  is  beyond  that  of  any  other  uninspired 
book  which  the  literature  of  the  race  contains. 

As  a  system  of  doctrine,  this  Catechism  has  of  course  its  opponents. 
But  as  a  model  of  expression,  and  as  a  specimen  of  standard  English, 
in  which  character  alone  it  has  a  place  in  the  present  volume,  it  has 
defied  criticism. 

IV,    ENOLISH  HYMNODY. 

The  religious  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  has  given  a 
wonderful  development  to  a  particular  form  of  lyric  poetry.  Psalms 
and  Hymns,  in  the  two  races,  English  and  German,,  chiefly  affected  by 
that  movement.  Psalms  and  Hymns  arc  not  new  in  religious  worship. 
They  have  been  used  by  the  Christian  Church  in  all  ages.  But  the 
particular  form  of  the  Psalms  and  Hymns  now  in  use  originated  with 
the  Reformation. 


ENGLISH    HYMNODY.  61 

A  leading  idea  with  the  Reformers,  both  in  England  and  on  the 
continent,  was  to  simplify  religious  worship,  and  to  give  to  the  laity  a 
more  active  participation  in  it.  Instead,  therefore,  of  the  elaborate 
and  multiplied  forms  "of  the  old  established  ritual,  the  Protestant 
churches  adopted  a  service  of  a  much  simpler  character,  and  this 
always  included,  of  course,  the  church  music.  This  change,  first  made 
by  Luther,  was  followed  up  by  Calvin,  and  from  him  found  its  way 
into  England  through  the  English  exiles  living  at  Geneva. 

Sternhold  and  Hopkins. 

The  first  Psalm-Book,  or  metrical  version  of  the  whole  Psalter,  in  a 
form  suited  for  public  worship,  that  was  used  in  the  English  Church, 
was  that  known  as  Sternhold  and  Hopkins.  It  was  so  called  from  the 
two  men  chiefly  engaged  in  its  production.     It  was  completed  in  1562. 

Not  one  of  the  parties  concerned  in  this  version  seems  to  have  had 
the  slightest  particle  of  taste,  or  feeling  of  genuine  poetry.  The  lan- 
guage is  occasionally  elevated  and  pure,  because  the  stanza  is  nothing 
more  than  the  common  prose  version,  with  the  words  so  arranged  as 
to  make  lines  and  to  rhyme.  In  the  main  the  authors  fully  justify  the 
language  of  Campbell,  who  says,  that  "with  the  best  intentions  and  the 
worst  taste,  they  degraded  the  spirit  of  Hebrew  Psalmody  by  flat  and 
homely  phraseology ;  and  mistaking  vulgarity  for  simplicity-,  turned 
into  bathos  what  they  found  sublime." 

Tate  and  Brady. 

A  Kew  Version  of  the  Psalter  appeared  in  1696,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  years  after  the  first  appearance  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins. 
The  authors  of  the  "New  Version"  were  Nahum  Tate  (1652-1715), 
poet-laureate,  and  Nicholas  Brady,  D.  D.  (1659-1726),  chaplain  to 
William  III.,  both  Irishmen  by  birth.  Tate  and  Brady  gained  but 
slowly  upon  its  ancient  rival.  Not  many  years  ago  either  was  bound 
up  with  the  various  editions  of  the  English  Prayer-Book,  according  to 
the  taste  or  the  interest  of  the  publishers. 

Rouse's  Psalms. 

The  Scotch  Version  of  the  Psalms  was  made  in  1645,  by  Francis 
Pouse,  an  English  statesman.  Eouse  was  a  member  of  Parliament, 
and  also  of  the  Westminster  As^sembly,  and  was  Provost  of  Eton  under 
the  Commonwealth.  Rouse's  Version,  after  some  revision,  was  "  allowed 
and  appointed  to  be  sung"  in  1649,  and  is  still  exclusively  used  by  the 
stricter  ofishoots  of  the  Scotch  Kirk. 
6 


62  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Watts's  Psalms  and  Hymns. 

The  first  English  Hymn-Book  used  in  public  worship  was  that  of 
Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  1674-1748.  There  were  other  hymn  writers  before 
his  time,  but  his  collection,  which  came  into  use  about  1715,  was  the 
first  regular  Hymn-Book. 

No  such  body  of  sacred  verse  as  Watts's  had  been  seen  or  imagined 
before  by  Englishmen,  and  its  eflTect  was  immense.  For  a  long  time 
his  Psalms  and  Hymns  entire  were  used,  exclusively,  or  nearly  so,  by 
the  great  bulk  of  Dissenters  in  Britain  and  of  Calvinists  in  America. 

Wesleyan  Hymns. 

Within  the  same  generation  with  Dr.  Watts  another  school  of  hym- 
nody  was  founded  by  a  yet  more  fertile  writer,  Charles  Wesley  (1708- 
1788).  Of  his  separate  hymns  there  must  be  fully  six  thousand. 
His  life  was  one  of  great  activity,  but  his  thoughts  naturally  ran  into 
rhyme  and  metre.  He  composed  on  horseback,  and  under  all  con- 
ceivable circumstances.  John  Wesley  possessed  a  poetic  talent  hardly 
inferior  to  that  of  his  brother  Charles,  but  it  was  less  exercised.  Some 
of  their  books  appeared  under  their  joint  names. 

The  choicest  of  the  Wesleyan  hymns  appeared  in  John  Wesley's 
great  Collection,  1779,  for  which  its  editor  claimed,  with  entire  truth, 
that  "  no  such  hymn-book  as  this  had  yet  been  published  in  the  Eng- 
lish language." 

Successors  to  Watts  and  Wesley. 

Dr.  Watts  had  many  imitators  or  followers,  of  whom  the  most  con- 
spicuous and  useful  were  Philip  Doddridge,  D.  D.  (1702-1751),  and 
Mrs.  Anne  Steele  (1716-1778).  Some  hymnists  wrote  under  the  influ- 
ence both  of  Watts  and  of  Wesley.  The  most  eminent  of  these  are 
Toplady  (1740-1778) ;  the  Olney  hymnists,  Cowper  and  Newton;  and 
Joseph  Hart  (1702-1768). 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Milton  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(1625-1673.) 

The  next  great  name  in  English  literature,  in  chronological  order, 
after  Chaucer,  Spenser,  and  Shakespeare,  is  that  of  Milton. 

The  period  to  which  Milton  more  especially  belongs  is  that  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  the  Protectorate,  1649-1660.  He  is  connected, 
however,  in  many  ways,  with  the  preceding  reign,  that  of  Charles  I., 
1625-1649,  and  to  some  extent  with  the  succeeding  reign,  that  of 
Charles  II.,  1660-1685. 

The  great  historical  events  of  this  period  are  the  rise  of  the  House 
of  Commons  to  power,  ending  in  a  rupture  between  the  Parliament 
and  the  King;  the  execution  of  the  King;  the  brief  rule  of  the  Com- 
monwealth and  of  Cromwell ;  and  the  Restoration  of  the  Stuarts. 

The  writers  of  this  period  are  divided  into  three  Sections:  1.  The 
Poets,  beginning  with  Milton ;  2.  Political  and  Miscellaneous  writers, 
beginning  with  Clarendon;  3.  Theological  writers,  beginning  with 
Jeremy  Taylor. 

I.    THE  POETS. 

Milton. 

John  Milton,  1608-1674,  if  not  the  greatest  of  English  poets,  is 
second  to  Shakespeare  only.  Milton's  chief  poem,  Paradise  Lost,  is 
unique  in  literary  history,  and  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  one  of  the 
noblest  achievements  of  human  genius.  Milton's  personal  character 
also  has  a  certain  stateliness  and  grandeur,  hardly  inferior  to  that  of 
his  chief  poem,  and  is  of  itself  enough  to  mark  him  as  one  of  the 

63 


64  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

great  men  of  all  time.     There  is  no  grander  figure  in  English  history 
than  that  of  John  Milton. 

Birth  and  Education.  —  Milton  was  a  native  of  London,  the  son  of 
a  scrivener.  His  early  education  was  begun  by  a  private  tutor,  and 
was  marked  from  the  first  by  a  zealous  devotion  to  classical  studies. 
The  same  trait  followed  him  at  Cambridge,  where  he  acquired  dis- 
tinction as  a  Latin  poet.  He  entered  the  University  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  and  remained  there  seven  years,  taking  his  degree  of  Bachelor 
in  1G28,  and  that  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1632. 

Subsequent  Studies.  —  After  leaving  the  University,  Milton  retired 
to  the  house  of  his  father,  then  living  in  the  country,  at  Horton,  in 
Buckinghamshire,  and  remained  there  five  years,  during  which  time 
he  continued  with  unabated  zeal  to  read  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers. 
During  this  period  of  studious  retirement,  also,  he  wrote  the  poems 
Arcades,  Comus,  Lycidas,  L' Allegro,  and  II  Penseroso. 

European  Travel. — In  1638,  being  then  at  the  age  of  thirty,  attended 
by  a  servant,  Milton  spent  fifteen  months  in  travel  on  the  continent, 
visiting  Paris,  Genoa,  Leghorn,  Pisa,  Florence,  Rome,  Naples,  and 
other  cities  of  Italy,  "  the  most  accomplished  Englishman  that  ever 
visited  her  classic  shores." 

Impression  that  he  Made.  —  The  elegance  of  Milton's  manner  and 
of  his  person  (he  was  remarkable  for  his  beauty),  and  his  extraordi- 
nary accomplishments  and  learning,  made  him  everywhere  the  object 
of  attention  among  men  of  letters.  "  I  contracted,"  says  he  "  an  inti- 
macy with  many  persons  of  rank  and  learning,  and  was  a  constant 
attendant  at  their  literary  parties,  —  a  practice  which  prevails  there 
and  tends  so  much  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  preservation 
of  friendship."  Among  the  men  of  note  whose  acquaintance  he  made 
were  Grotius,  Galileo,  Carlo  Dati,  Francini,  and  Manso.  Being  thor- 
oughly at  home  in  the  Italian  language,  he  composed  while  in  Italy 
several  poems  and  complimentary  Sonnets  in  Italian,  which  gained 
him  great  applause. 

Cause  of  his  Return.  — The  news  which  Milton  received  from  home 
of  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs  led  him  to  return  to  England  sooner 
than  he  had  intended.  "  When  I  was  preparing  to  pass  over  into  Sicily 
and  Greece,  the  melancholy  intelligence  which  I  received  of  the  civil 
commotions  in  England  made  me  alter  my  purpose ;  for  I  thought  it 
base  to  be  travelling  for  amusement  abroad  while  my  fellow-citizens 
were  fighting  for  liberty  at  home." 

Occupation  in  London.  — On  Milton's  return,  he  settled  in  London  : 
"I  looked  about  to  see  if  I  could  get  any  place  that  could  hold  myself 
and  my  books,  and  so  I  took  a  house  of  sufficient  size  in  the  city ;  and 


MILTON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.         65 

there,  with  no  small  delight,  I  resumed  my  intermitted  studies, — 
chiefly  leaving  the  event  of  public  affairs,  first  to  God,  and  then  to 
those  to  whom  the  people  had  committed  that  tavsk."  While  thus  liv- 
ing, he  undertook  the  instruction  of  liis  two  nephews,  John  and  Edward 
Phillips,  and  of  a  few  other  lads,  sons  of  his  intimate  friends. 

First  Works  as  a  Political  Writer.  —  The  affairs  of  the  nation  appear 
to  have  been  uppermost  in  Milton's  thoughts,  and  he  began  soon  after 
that  a  series  of  remarkable  treatises  on  matters  of  church  and  state, 
by  which  he  became  known  throughout  Europe  as  the  foremost  cham- 
pion of  the  Commonwealth.  He  wrote,  in  1641,  Of  Reformation 
touching  Church  Discipline  in  England,  The  Reason  of  Church  Gov- 
ernment against  Prelaty,  and  some  other  works  of  a  like  character,  and 
in  1642,  An  Apology  for  Smectymnuus. 

Marriage  and  Divorce.  —  In  1643,  Milton  was  married  to  Mary 
Powell,  the  daughter  of  a  loyalist  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  Oxfordshire. 
Something  of  romance  seems  to  have  entered  into  this  affair ;  and  the 
lady,  after  living  with  liim  for  a  month,  and  not  finding  the  Puritan 
atmosphere  congenial,  went  on  a  visit  to  her  father's  house,  and  refused 
to  return.  Milton,  thereupon,  believing  that  the  Scriptures  gave  to  the 
husband,  under  such  circumstances,  the  right  of  divorce,  proceeded 
formally  to  repudiate  his  wife. 

Treatises  on  Divorce.  —  After  thus  repudiating  his  wife,  Milton  pub- 
lished in  rapid  succession  his  famous  treatises  on  this  subject:  The 
Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  Divorce ;  Tetrachordon,  or  Exposition  of 
the  Four  Chief  Places  in  Scripture  which  treat  of  the  Nullities  of 
Marriage ;  The  Judgment  of  the  Famous  Martin  Bucer  touching  Di- 
vorce; Colasterion. 

End  of  the  Matter.  —  The  matter  ended  in  the  wife's  becoming  re- 
pentant, and  in  Milton's  taking  her  back ;  they  seem  to  have  lived 
happily  together  afterwards. 

Two  Admired  Treatises.  — About  the  same  time,  1644,  Milton  pub- 
lished bis  two  prose  works  which  have  been  most  admired,  A  Tractate 
on  Education,  and  Areopagitica,  or  A  Plea  for  the  Liberty  of  Un- 
licensed Printing. 

Appointment  as  Latin  Secretary.  —  In  1648,  Milton  was  appointed 
Latin  Secretary  to  the  Council  of  State,  and  he  afterwards  held  the 
same  office  under  Cromwell.  This  office  was  equivalent  to  that  of 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  matters  of  diplomacy  being  then  con- 
ducted chiefly  in  Latin. 

Work  as  Secretary.  —  The  business  of  the  Secretary,  however,  at 
least  as  conceived  by  Milton  himself,  was  not  only  to  write  the  dis- 
patches to  foreign  governments,  but  to  compose  from  time  to  time  such 
6*  E 


66  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

treatises  on  affairs  of  state  as  might  be  needed  to  vindicate  the  pro- 
ceedings of  his  Government  before  the  public  tribunal  of  the  world. 
An  abler,  more  conscientious,  or  more  independent  advocate,  probably, 
was  never  raised  up  for  any  great  political  party.  His  various  "  Trac- 
tates "  are  as  celebrated  in  their  way  as  was  the  military  or  the  politi- 
cal career  of  Cromwell,  and  are  almost  as  much  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  times. 

Political  Writings.  — The  titles  of  some  of  Milton's  political  Trac- 
tates are  the  following :  The  Tenure  of  Kings  and  Magistrates,  Prov- 
ing that  it  is  Lawful  to  Call  to  Account  a  Tyrant  or  Wicked  King ; 
Eikonoklastes,  literally  "The  Image  Breaker,"  written  to  weaken  the 
force  of  the  book  put  forth  by  the  royalist  party,  called  Eikon  Basilike, 
"  The  Royal  Image; "  and  A  Defence  of  the  People  of  England  against 
Salmasius.  The  work  last  named  was  the  crowning  efibrt  of  Milton's 
genius  in  political  writing.  Salmasius  was  the  picked  champion  of 
the  royalist  party  on  the  continent.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning 
and  eloquence,  and  had  written  A  Defense  of  Charles  I.  It  was  the 
appeal  of  the  royalists  against  the  republicans,  and  was  trumpeted 
throughout  Europe  as  unanswerable.  Milton's  reply  was  so  crushing 
in  its  force  that  Salmasius  is  said  to  have  died  of  chagrin  at  the  mor- 
tifying defeat. 

After  the  Eestoration.  —  On  the  downfall  of  the  Commonwealth  and 
tlie  Restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  Milton  found  it  necessary  to  keep  him- 
self out  of  the  public  view  until  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  Oblivion,  in 
1660.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  in  consequence  of  the  celeb- 
rity of  his  writings,  he  was  an  object  of  great  interest  and  reverence 
to  foreigners  visiting  England^  and  his  house  was  often  thronged  with 
distinguished  visitors.  . 

Milton  was  three  times  married,  but  had  surviving  children  only  by 
his  first  wife,  —  three  daughters. 

His  Blindness.  —  In  1653,  while  in  the  midst  of  his  political  labors, 
and  partly  in  consequence  of  them,  Milton  became  totally  blind.  He 
had  from  youth  suffered  from  weakness  of  the  eyes,  and  the  excessive 
use  of  them  in  this  season  of  intense  excitement  hastened  the  final  dis- 
aster. Several  of  his  political  Tractates,  and  his  three  longest  Poems, 
were  composed  while  he  was  thus  shut  out  from  all  sight  of  the  exter- 
nal world. 

The  Paradise  Lost,  commenced  many  years  before,  was  published  in 
1667;  Paradise  Regained  and  Samson  Agouistes  were  published  in 
1671.  The  Paradise  Lost,  after  its  completion,  had  to  wait  two  years 
before  it  could  find  a  publisher,  and  even  then  its  way  to  fame  was 
very  slow.    The  whole  amount  received  by  him  and  his  family  from 


MILTON   AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.        67 

the  copyright  of  it  was  only  £28.  The  odium  attached  to  him  for  his 
championship  of  a  defeated  political  party  was  doubtless  one  cause  of 
so  tardy  a  recognition.  "  Waller,  not  Milton,  was  long  considered  the 
Virgil  of^he  nation."  —  London  Quarterly.  Waller  himself,  in  the 
heyday  of  his  pride,  wrote  these  words:  "The  old  blind  schoolmaster, 
John  Milton,  hath  published  a  tedious  poem  on  the  Fall  of  Mlin  :  if 
its  length  be  not  considered  a  merit,  it  hath  no  other." 

Waller. 

Edmund  Waller,  1605-1687,  was  regarded  in  his  day  as  one  of  the 
great  lights  of  English  literature.  It  is  now  by  sufferance  only  that 
he  holds  in  literature  any  place  at  all. 

Waller's  poems  are  nearly  all  short  occasional  pieces,  chiefly  of  an 
amatory  nature.  In  connection  with  Godolphin,  Waller  also  trans- 
lated the  fourth  book  of  the  jEneid.  He  was  one  of  the  most  popular 
ppets  of  the  age  of  the  Restoration,  and  was  long  regarded  as  the  most 
elegant  and  refined  master  of  style.  But  he  has  gradually  fallen  into 
almost  total  disrepute  and  neglect. 

Cowley. 

Abraham  Cowley,  1618-1667,  was  likewise  accounted  in  his  day  as 
one  of  the  greatest  of  English  poets.  This  verdict  also  has  long  since 
been  reversed.  Cowley  was,  undoubtedly,  a  man  of  abilities,  and  an 
accomplished  scholar ;  but  his  poems  lack  truth  and  naturalness.  He 
tried  to  make  poetry  out  of  what  he  had  read  in  books,  instead  of 
making  it  out  of  his  own  experience  of  life. 

Cowley's  poetical  works  are  divided  into  four  parts  :  Miscellanies  ; 
Mistress,  or  Love  Verses ;  Pindaric  Odes ;  and  The  Davideis,  a  heroic 
poem,  celebrating  the  troubles  of  David. 

Wither. 

George  Wither,  1588-1667,  was  a  poet  of  some  note  in  his  own  day, 
who,  after  having  passed  almost  into  oblivion,  has  in  recent  times 
risen  again  into  favor.  His  restoration  to  notice  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
praises  of  Southey,  Lamb,  and  others  in  the  present  century. 

Wither  was  an  exceedingly  voluminous  writer.  The  list  of  his 
separate  publications  numbers  nearly  one  hundred.  Among  the  best 
are  Wither's  Motto  (Nee  habeo,  nee  careo,  nee  euro),  and  The  Hymns 
and  Songs  of  the  Church. 


( 
68  ENGLISH    LITERATUEE. 

Herriek. 

Kobert  Herriek,  1591-1662,  was  a  lyric  poet  of  considerable  note,  in 
the  times  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Restoration.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Cambridge,  and  took  holy  orders,  but  was  sadly  imclerical, 
both  in  his  manner  of  life  and  in  his  writings.  He  was  a  frequenter 
of  taverns,  where  he  "  quaffed  the  mighty  bowl "  with  Ben  Jonson  and 
other  boon  companions.  His  verse  is  mostly  of  the  light,  anacreontic 
kind,  and  some  of  it  is  loose  and  licentious. 

Herriek  published  Noble  Numbers,  or  Pious  Pieces,  containing  only 
hymns  and  other  religious  lyrics ;  also,  Hesperides,  containing  both 
devotional  pieces  and  anacreontics,  or  "  works  human  and  divine,"  as 
he  himself  styled  them,  and  the  two  kinds  are  oddly  mixed  up.  With 
all  his  irregularities,  however,  he  was  a  genuine  poet,  and  he  often 
wrote  with  singular  sweetness  and  beauty. 

Suckling. 

Sir  John  Suckling,  1608-1642,  was  pre-eminently  the  cavalier-poet 
of  the  times  of  Charles  I.  Suckling's  poetical  works  are  of  three  kinds, 
—  his  dramas,  which  are  of  little  value,  his  longer  pieces,  which  are 
not  much  read,  and  his  ballads  and  songs.  These  last  have  placed 
Suckling  at  the  very  head  of  English  writers  of  song.  They  are  not 
characterized  by  any  very  profound  emotion,  but  are  unsurpassed  for 
sprightliness  and  ease. 

Butler. 

Samuel  Butler,  1612-1680,  was  a  humorous  writer  of  great  celebrity. 
His  chief  work,  Hudibras,  a  sort  of  English  Don  Quixote,  is  univer- 
sally received  as  one  of  the  best  works  of  wit  and  humor  to  be  found 
in  the  language.  The  wit  indeed  often  depends  upon  circumstances 
and  allusions  with  which  the  public  are  no  longer  familiar,  and  there- 
fore the  work  is  not  so  generally  read  as  it  once  was.  Still  it  is,  and 
it  will  ever  be,  a  great  favorite.  The  object  of  the  poem  was  to  ridi- 
cule the  Puritans. 

Other  Poets. 

Some  of  the  other  poets  of  this  period  are  the  following : 
Thomas  Carew,  1589-1639,  a  gay  courtier  of  the  time  of  Charles  I., 
and  the  author  of  numerous  short  amatory  pieces  and  songs  of  the  con- 
ventional kind  then  in  fashion ;  Sib  William  Davenant,  1605-1668, 
a  dramatist,  who  succeeded  Ben  Jonson  as  Poet  Laureate,  and  at 
his  death  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  with  the  inscription,  "  O 


MILTON  AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.        69 

Eare  Sir  William  Davenant! " ;  John  Taylor,  1580-1654,  self-styled 
"  The  Water-Poet,"  and  the  author  of  over  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
poems  and  pieces,  descriptive,  satirical,  and  humorous ;  Francis 
Rouse,  1579-1658,  celebrated  for  his  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms, 
which  is  still  used  with  loving  reverence  by  a  large  and  respectable 
body  of  Presbyterians,  both  in  Great  Britain  and  America ;  Francis 
QuARiiES,  1592-1644,  a  quaint  writer,  the  author  of  numerous  works, 
mostly  poetical,  and  now  known  chiefly  by  his  book  of  Emblems; 
and  William  Habington,  1605-1645,  an  accomplished  English 
Catholic,  who  published  a  volume  of  Poems,  mider  the  title  of  Castara, 
and  A  History  of  Edward  IV. 


II.  political  and   miscellaneous. 

Clarendon. 

Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  1608-1673,  was  an  eminent  writer 
and  statesman  of  the  times  of  Charles  I.  and  Charles  II.  Clarendon 
favored  the  Stuart  cause,  but  with  moderation.  After  Charles  I.  was 
beheaded.  Clarendon  remained  abroad  with  Charles  II.,  and  came  in 
with  the  Restoration,  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  ministry  under 
Charles  II.,  and  his  daughter,  Ann  Hyde,  was  married  to  the  King's 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  Two  of  Clarendon's  descendants  through 
her  —  Mary  and  Anne  —  became  Queens  of  England.  On  the  acces- 
sion of  the  Whigs  to  power,  he  was  deprived  of  office  and  driven  into 
exile,  and  he  ended  his  days  abroad,  though  after  his  death  his  remains 
were  allowed  to  be  deposited  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Clarendon's  writings  are  numerous,  and  are  of  the  highest  value. 
They  are  important,  not  only  as  authentic  records  of  grave  historical 
transactions,  by  one  who  was  a  chief  actor  in  them,  but  as  noble  speci- 
mens of  English  literature.  His  chief  work  is  his  History  of  the 
Rebellion,  that  is,  of  the  civil  war  connected  with  the  expulsion  and 
restoration  of  the  Stuarts.  It  is  a  large  work,  printed  usually  in  6 
or  7  vols.  8vo. 

Prynne. 

William  Prynne,  1600-1669,  an  English  Puritan,  was  first  brought 
into  notice  by  his  book,  Histrio-Mastix,  A  Scourge  for  the  Players, 
and  by  the  barbarous  punishment  to  which  he  was  subjected  on  account 
of  it,  Prynne's  book  was  a  general  tirade  against  stage-plays,  as 
being  "sinful,  heathenish,  lewd,  ungodly  spectacles,"  and  against  the 
"  profession  of  play-poets  and  stage-players  "  and  the  "  frequenting  of 


70  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

stage-plays,"  as  being  "  unlawful,  infamous,  and  misbeseeming  Chris- 
tians," "  besides  sundry  other  particulars  concerning  dancing,  dicing, 
health-drinking,  &c."  This  furious  blast  was  no  ofi-hand  performance, 
but  a  laborious  work,  in  quarto,  on  which  the  author  employed  several 
years  of  toil. 

His  Punishment.  —  To  silence  so  audacious  a  scribbler,  the  Govern- 
ment expelled  him  from  the  University,  degraded  him  from  the  bar, 
fined  him  £5,000,  set  him  twice  on  the  pillory,  burned  his  book  before 
his  eyes  by  the  common  hangman,  sentenced  him  to  imprisonment  for 
life,  cut  off  both  his  ears,  and  burned  upon  both  his  cheeks  the  letters 
S.  L.,  "  Schismatic  Libeller,"  but  according  to  his  own  version,  Sdg- 
mata  Laudis,  '*  Marks  of  Praise."  Such  were  some  of  the  sweet  per- 
suasives of  argument  in  the  "  good  old  times  ! " 

Hobbes. 

Thomas  Hobbes,  1588-1679,  achieved  permanent  distinction  as  a 
writer  by  a  philosophical  work  called  the  Leviathan,  in  which  he 
treats  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  political  science. 

Career.  —  Hobbes  was  educated  at  Oxford  ;  travelled  on  the  conti- 
nent several  times,  as  tutor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  (Charles  II.),  and 
of  other  young  noblemen  ;  in  1654  returned  permanently  to  England, 
and  died  at  the  country-seat  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  in  whose 
family  he  had  served  as  tutor  to  three  successive  generations. 

Hobbes  published  a  number  of  works,  but  his  fame  rests  almost  ex- 
clusively on  his  Leviathan,  or  the  Matter,  Form,  and  Power  of  a 
Commonwealth.  This  treatise,  which  reduces  all  theory  of  govern- 
ment to  blind  submission  to  the  ruling  power,  has  been  the  subject  of 
more  attention  and  more  denunciation  than  any  other  political  work 
in  the  language.  At  the  time  of  its  appearance  it  was  denounced  by 
writers  of  all  classes.  His  system  of  ethics  was  declared  to  be  pure 
selfishness,  reducing  the  conscience  and  emotions  to  a  mere  judgment 
of  Avhat  succeeds  or  fails.  Of  late  years,  however,  there  has  been  a 
tendency  to  reopen  the  judgment  passed  upon  Hobbes  and  to  consider 
his  positions  more  carefully. 

Sir  Thomas  Browne. 

Sir  Thomas  Browne,  M.  D.,  1605-1682,  was  a  profound  thinker  and 
a  writer  of  robust  English,  though  he  had  a  fancy  for  using  words 
of  Latin  origin,  and  especially  for  giving  Latin  titles  to  his  works. 
His  most  celebrated  production  is  Religio  Medici,  The  Religion  of  a 
Physician.     It  was  translated  into  the  Latin,  Italian,  German,  Dutch, 


MILTON   AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.         71 

and  French.  As  a  sequel  to  this  work,  the  author  wrote  Christian 
Morals,  which  is  also  in  high  repute.  Another  work  is  The  Garden 
of  Cyrus,  or  The  Quincunxial  Lozenge,  in  which  the  author  displays 
his  learning  and  his  ingenuity  in  finding  everywhere  traces  of  tliis 
form :  "  quincunxes  in  heaven  above,  quincunxes  in  earth  below,  quin- 
cunxes in  the  mind  of  man,  quincunxes  in  tones,  in  optic  nerves,  in 
roots  of  trees,  in  leaves,  in  everything."  —  Coleridge.  "  A  reader,  not 
watchful  against  the  power  of  his  infusions,  would  imagine  that  decus- 
sation was  the  great  business  of  the  world,  and  that  nature  and  art  had 
no  other  purpose  than  to  exemplify  and  imitate  a  quincunx." — Johnson. 

Bishop  Wilkins. 

John  Wilkins,  D.  D.,  1G14-1672,  Bishop  of  Chester,  though  eminent 
as  a  dignitary  of  the  English  Church,  is  chiefly  and  most  favorably 
known  as  a  philosophical  writer.  He  was  very  zealous  in  the  work 
of  founding  the  Eoyal  Society,  and  published  many  works  of  a  philo- 
Bophical  character. 

The  following  are  his  chief  works :  Essay  towards  a  Real  Charac- 
ter and  a  Pliilosophical  Language,  in  which  he  anticipates  the  mod- 
ern plionographers ;  Mercury,  or  The  Swift  and  Secret  Messenger, 
showing  how  a  Man  may  witli  Privacy  and  Speed  Communicate  his 
Thoughts  to  a  Friend  at  any  Distance,  which  looks  almost  as  if  he 
had  been  on  the  verge  of  stumbling  upon  the  Telegraph ;  Discovery 
of  a  New  World,  a  discourse  tending  to  prove  that  it  is  probable  there 
may  be  anotlicr  habitable  world  in  the  moon,  with  a  discourse  con- 
cerning the  possibility  of  a  passage  thither;  Discourse  concerning  a 
New  Planet,  proving  that  it  is  probable  that  our  earth  is  one  of  the 
planets. 

Izaak  Walton. 

Izaak  Walton,  1593-1683,  a  quaint  writer  of  this  period,  is  held  in 
great  repute,  especially  for  his  Complete  Angler.  He  appears  to  have, 
been  of  humble  birth,  and  followed  the  business  of  a  linen-draper. 
Having  acquired  a  competency,  he  retired  from  business,  and  lived 
thenceforth  in  leisure,  devoting  himself  to  angling  and  reading. 
Congeniality  of  sports,  aided  by  his  sweetness  of  temper,  brought 
him  in  contact  with  many  of  the  famous  men  of  his  times.  The 
Complete  Angler,  though  an  unpretending  volume,  took  at  once, 
and  has  ever  since  held,  a  place  among  English  classics.  The  book 
has  so  much  of  the  author  and  his  quaint,  genial  spirit,  that  it  may 
almost  be  called  an   autobiography.     Besides  tiie  Angler,  Walton 


\ 


72  ENGLISH     LITERATUEE. 

wrote  Lives  of  Donne,  Wotton,  Hooker,  Herbert  and  Sanderson. 
These  biographies  vie  in  excellence  with  the  Angler.  They  have 
ever  been  regarded  as  models  of  pure,  easy  composition.  Walton's 
life  must  be  regarded,  in  its  tranquillity  and  simplicity,  as  a  striking 
phenomenon,  a  perfect  idyl,  amidst  the  turmoil  and  passion  of  the 
Rebellion  and  the  Restoration . 


III.   THEOLOGICAL    NA/'RITERS. 

Jeremy  Taylor. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  D.  D.,  1613-1667,  is,  by  general  consent,  one  of  the 
greatest  glories  of  the  English  pulpit.  He  may  be  considered  as  the 
Spenser  of  theological  literature.  He  has  the  same  boundless  afflu- 
ence of  imagination  as  Spenser,  the  same  tendency  to  rambling  dis- 
cursiveness in  style,  pardonable  for  the  many  exquisite  nooks  and 
corners  of  thought  to  which  it  so  often  leads,  the  same  veneration  for 
kingly  and  ecclesiastical  pomp  and  state. 

His  best  known  works  are  Holy  Living,  Holy  Dying,  Liberty  of 
Prophesying,  The  Great  Exemplar,  or  a  Life  of  Christ,  and  a  collec- 
tion of  prayers,  called  The  Golden  Grove.  His  pen,  however,  was 
always  busy,  and  his  writings  are  enough  to  fill  several  large  folios. 
They  have  been  published,  with  a  life  by  Heber,  in  15  vols.,  8vo. 

Bishop  Hall. 

Joseph  Hall,  D.D.,  1574-1656,  an  eminent  scholar  and  divine,  was 
educated  at  Cambridge,  and  rose  through  various  ecclesiastical  pre- 
ferments to  be  Bishop  of  Norwich.  His  principal  works  are  the 
following:  Satires,  written  in  his  youth;  Contemplations  upon  the 
Principal  Passages  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  Episcopacy  by  Di- 
vine Right. 

Usher. 

James  Usher,  1580-1656,  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  names 
in  the  annals  of  the  English  Church.  Usher's  works  are  numerous, 
and  were  regarded  by  his  contemporaries  as  marvels  of  research.  It 
may  be  said  of  the  majority  of  them,  however,  that  the  growth  of 
knowledge  has  thrown  them  decidedly  into  the  shade.  His  Annals 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  his  Sacred  Chronology,  were  for  a  long 
time  the  standards  of  ecclesiastical  chronology,  and  are  even  still 
followed  in  the  marginal  dates  inserted  in  the  Authorized  Version  of 
the  English  Bible. 


MILTON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.        73 

Fuller. 

Thomas  Fuller,  1608-1661,  the  ecclesiastical  historian  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, is  about  as  much  known  for  his  wit  as  for  his  learning.  His 
voluminous  works  on  church  history,  instead  of  being  the  dull,  heavy 
reading  that  such  works  usually  are,  abound  in  a  quaint,  epigrammatic 
wit  that  makes  them  in  a  high  degree  entertaining  and  lively. 

His  principal  works  are  the  following:  The  Church  History  of 
Great  Britain,  fol. ;  History  of  the  Worthies  of  England,  fol. ;  The 
Holy  and  the  Profane  State,  fol. 

The  Church  History  is  perhaps  too  gossipy  for  the  dignity  of  the 
subject,  but  it  is  at  least  not  dull.  The  Worthies  is  a  collection  of 
biographies,  often  from  original  sources,  and  is  a  storehouse  of  valua- 
ble knowledge.  The  Holy  and  Profane  State  is  likewise  mainly 
biographical,  —  the  first  part,  or  Holy  State,  giving  historical  exam- 
ples for  imitation,  and  the  second  part,  or  Profane  State,  giving  ex- 
amples to  be  avoided.  All  his  writings  give  evidence  of  varied 
learning,  and  all  have  the  peculiar,  epigrammatic  turn  already  no- 
ticed. He  has  been  censured  by  some  for  want  of  sound  judgment  as 
a  historian.  The  criticism  has  some  foundation.  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  hard  to  read  a  page  of  his  writmga  and  not  to  give  him  credit  for 
entire  honesty  and  good  faith. 

Bishop  Pearson. 

John  Pearson,  D.  D.,  1612-1686,  a  learned  Bishop  of  the  Church  of 
England,  acquired  lasting  fame  by  his  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  which 
has  become  a  classic  in  theological  literature.  It  is  studied  as  a  text- 
book in  most  theological  schools  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Pearson 
on  the  Creed  and  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity  usually  stand  on  the 
same  shelf. 

Cudworth. 

Kalph  Cudworth,  1617-1688,  a  learned  theologian  of  the  English 
Church,  is  chiefly  known  by  his  great  work,  the  Intellectual  System 
of  the  Universe.  This  work  was  directed  against  the  atheistical  sys- 
tems of  Hobbes  and  others. 

Cudworth  was  remarkable  for  his  candor  as  a  disputant ;  indeed, 
he  set  forth  the  positions  and  arguments  of  his  opponents  with  so 
much  clearness  and  force,  that  many  zealots  censured  him  for  betray- 
ing the  truth,  and  intimated  that  the  arguments  against  religion  which 
he  first  brought  forward  on  behalf  of  its  enemies  were  stronger  than 
7 


74  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

those  which  he  afterwards  adduced  of  his  own  to  upset  them.     Truth 
would  be  the  gainer  if  she  had  more  such  right-minded  champions. 

Barro^A^. 

Isaac  Barrow,  D.  D.,  1630-1677,  was  very  highly  distinguished  both 
as  a  mathematician  and  a  theologian.  He  was  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics in  Cambridge,  then  Master  of  Trinity,  and  finally  Vice-Chan- 
cellor  of  the  University.  His  mathematical  works  are  in  Latin.  His 
theological  works,  which  are  in  English,  first  Appeared  in  3  vols,  folio. 
They  consist  of  Treatises  on  the  Pope's  Supremacy  and  on  the  Unity 
of  the  Church,  and  Sermons.     His  Sermons  rank  very  high. 

No  Sermons  in  the  English  language  have  received  a  more  general 
verdict  for  almost  every  kind  of  excellence  of  which  such  compositions 
are  susceptible. 

Ho-we. 

John  Howe,  1630-1705,  was,  in  the  opinion  of  Eobert  Hall,  "the 
greatest  of  the  Puritan  divines."  Critics  who  do  not  accofd  to  Howe 
so  distinguished  a  place,  are  yet  unanimous  in  considering  him  one 
of  the  greatest  of  theological  writers.  His  writings  are  not  so  numerous 
as  those  of  Baxter  and  others,  and  they  are  wanting  in  grace  and  ele- 
gance ;  but  they  are  regarded  as  surpassing  those  of  all  other  Puritan 
divines  in  force,  and  in  breadth  of  view.  B-obert  Hall  says :  "  I  have 
learned  far  more  from  John  Howe  than  from  any  other  author  I  have 
ever  read.     There  is  an  astonishing  magnificence  in  his  conceptions." 

His  best  known  works  are:  The  Living  Temple;  The  Redeemer's 
Tears ;  and  The  Redeemer's  Dominion  over  the  Invisible  World. 

Baxter. 

Richard  Baxter,  D.D.,  1615-1691,  one  of  the  leading  Non-conform- 
ist divines,  is  said  to  "have  preached  more  sermons,  engaged  in  more 
controversies,  and  written  more  books,  than  any  other  Non-conformist 
of  the  age,"  which  is  saying  a  good  deal,  as  they  were  all  voluminous 
writers.     A  selection  of  his  works  has  been  printed  in  23  vols.  8vo. 

Of  this  immense  mass,  the  greater  part  has  gone  into  oblivion.  It 
was  not,  indeed,  like  the  writings  of  some  voluminous  authors,  pon- 
derous and  curious  inatter,  meant  only  for  tlie  learned  few,  but  it  re- 
lated to  the  living  issues  of  the  times,  and  was  addressed  to  readers  at 
large.  But  those  issues  tliemselvcs  mostly  have  passed  away,  and 
with  them  the  literature  of  the  occasion  has  ceased  to  exist  except  as  a 
part  of  liistory.     Two  of  Baxter's  works,  however,  are  a  signal  excep- 


MILTON   AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.        75 

tion  to  this  remark.  These  are  the  Call  to  the  Unconverted,  and  the 
Saints'  Everlasting  Kest.  These  two  treatises,  abridged  to  suit  modern 
wants,  have  passed  through  countless  editions,  and  have  continued  to 
form  a  part  of  the  religious  literature  of  the  English  speaking  race  all 
over  the  world,  and  doubtless  will  do  so  to  the  end  of  time.  Baxter 
was  one  of  the  busiest  men  of  his  time,  and  one  of  the  most  influential. 
But  he  is  at  this  day,  probably,  exerting  a  wider  influence  by  these 
two  books  than  he  did  while  living  by  all  his  multiplied  labors. 

Owen. 

John  Owen,  D.D.,  1616-1683,  is  generally  considered  the  greatest 
of  the  Puritan  divines.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  and  his 
industry  was  prodigious.  His  works  fill  24  vols,  large  octavo.  The 
two  of  most  enduring  character  are  the  Commentary  on  the  Hebrews, 
and  the  work  on  The  Holy  Spirit. 

Owen  did  not  cultivate  the  graces  of  style,  but  there  is  always 
robustness  in  his  argument.  He  discussed  whatever  subject  he  under- 
took as  if  he  intended  to  leave  nothing  to  be  said  by  those  who  should 
come  after  him.  With  all  the  progress  made  since  his  time  in  the 
science  of  criticism  and  exegesis,  no  prudent  commenator,  even  now, 
would  undertake  to  expound  tlie  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  without  a 
constant  reference  to  the  work  of  Owen.  In  his  writings  of  a  practical 
character,  he  had  a  peculiarity,  beyond  all  the  other  great  writers  of 
his  school,  of  making  his  pious  emotion  dependent  in  all  cases  upon 
some  solid  scriptural  basis. 

Bunyan. 

John  Bunyan,  1628-1688,  is,  of  all  the  writers  of  his  age,  the  great- 
est marvel.  With  only  the  most  limited  opportunities  of  education, 
he  produced  a  work  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  classics,  not  merely 
of  English  literature,  but  of  all  literature,  ancient  and  modern.  The 
Iliad  itself  is  not  more  clearly  a  work  for  all  time  and  all  men  than  is 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  by  John  Bunyan,  the  Bedfordshire  tinker. 

Bunyan  was  an  illiterate  tinker,  and  in  early  life  shockingly  pro- 
fane. Being  brought  under  strong  religious  conviction,  he  abandoned 
his  former  way  of  life,  and  became  ever  afterwards  a  most  earnest  and 
devoted  Christian.  The  change  in  his  religious  character  reacted,  as 
in  such  cases  it  often  does,  upon  his  intellectual  development ;  and 
though  he  never  attained  to,  nor  indeed  aimed  at,  the  character  of  a 
learned  man,  he  yet  became  a  most  powerful  thinker  and  writer,  his 
topics  being  limited  chiefly  to  those  drawn  from  the  Bible  and  from 


76  ENGLISH     LITERATURE. 

religious  experience,  and  he  is  second  to  none  in  the  power  of  descrip- 
tion, or  in  the  purity  of  his  English. 

In  one  particular  and  most  difficult  department  of  writing,  Allegory, 
he  stands  unrivalled,  not  only  in  English,  but  in  all  literature. 
Shakespeare  is  not  so  clearly  the  first  of  Dramatists,  as  is  John  Bunyan 
the  Prince  of  Dreamers.  His  Dream  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  is  con- 
fessedly the  greatest  of  Allegories,  ancient  or  modem ;  it  has  been 
translated  into  almost  every  language  that  has  a  religious  literature 
of  its  own,  and  it  probably  has  been  more  read,  and  been  instrumental 
of  more  spiritual  good,  than  any  other  book,  the  Bible  only  excepted. 

Bunyan  has  been  called  the  Spenser  of  the  unlearned,  the  Shake- 
speare of  the  religious  world.  He  did  not  write  for  literary  glory,  but 
solely  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  rude  people  among  whom  he 
lived ;  yet  the  highest  literary  authorities  have  bowed  in  reverence 
before  the  wonders  of  his  art. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DRYDEN   AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES. 
(1675-1700.) 

The  period  included  in  this  Chapter  embraces  the  reigns  of  Charles 
II.  and  James  II.,  1660-1688,  the  final  expulsion  of  the  Stuarts,  the 
Eevolution  of  1688,  and  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  1688-1702. 
It  was,  especially  in  its  earlier  part,  a  period  of  great  licentiousness 
of  manners,  which  is  but  too  faithfully  reflected  in  much  of  its  poetical 
and  all  of  its  dramatic  literature. 

The  authors  of  this  period  are,  for  convenience  of  description, 
divided  into  four  Sections:  1.  Poets,  beginning  with  Dryden;  2. 
Philosophical  and  Miscellaneous  writers,  beginning  with  Locke;  3. 
Theological  writers,  beginning  with  Tillotson ;  4.  The  Early  Friends, 
beginning  with  George  Fox. 

I.    THE     POETS. 

Dryden. 

John  Dryden,  1631-1700,  fills  a  larger  space  in  English  litera- 
ture than  any  other  writer  between  the  age  of  Milton  and  that  of 
Pope  and  Addison.  Dryden  is  confessedly  one  of  the  greatest  of 
English  poets ;  and  although  there  may  be  a  question  among  critics 
as  to  his  precise  rank,  his  name  is  never  omitted  in  any  enumeration 
of  our  first-class  authors. 

His  Early  History.  —  Dryden  was  born  of  an  ancient  family  of  the 
name  of  Driden.  The  change  in  the  spelling  of  his  name  was  a  fancy 
7*  77 


78  ENG1.ISH    LITERATURE. 

of  his  own.  His  parents  were  rigid  Puritans.  He  was  educated  first 
at  Westminster,  under  the  famous  Dr.  Bushy,  and  afterwards  at  Cam- 
hridge.  He  was  early  in  life  a  great  admirer  of  Cromwell,  and  his 
first  poem  of  any  note  was  Heroic  Stanzas  on  the  Late  Lord  Pro- 
tector, written  on  the  occasion  of  Cromwell's  death.  They  contain 
some  passages  in  his  happiest  vein.  Dryden,  however,  always  wor- 
shipped the  rising  sun,  and  on  the  overthrow  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  he  went  over  to  the  winning  party 
and  wrote  his  Astrsea  Kedux,  a  poem  of  welcome  to  the  new  order 
of  things. 

Dryden's  Plays  are  twenty-nine  in  number,  and  run  through  thirty- 
two  years  of  his  life,  —  from  his  thirty-first  to  his  sixty-third  year. 
All  of  his  earlier  plays  are  modelled  after  the  French  drama,  which 
King  Charles  had  made  fashionable.  They  are  in  rhyming  verso,  are 
occupied  solely  by  heroic  and  exalted  personages,  and  filled  with 
scenes  of  inflated  and  incongruous  splendor.  When  this  fashion  was 
at  its  height,  it  received  a  rude  shock  from  a  lively  parody,  The 
Rehearsal,  written  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  Dryden's  plays 
after  this  were  more  natural,  and  were  written  in  blank  verse,  which 
he  formerly  had  scouted  as  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  drama.  But 
in  all  his  plays,  rhyming  or  unrhyming,  heroic  or  comic,  he  is  fully 
open  to  the  charge  of  immorality. 

Dryden  wrote  a  poem,  Eeligio  Laici,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
defend  the  Church  of  England  against  dissenters.  Towards  the  close 
of  his  life  he  embraced  the  Catholic  religion,  and  wrote  the  Hind  and 
Panther  in  defence  of  his  new  opinions.  In  this  poem,  the  Hind  is 
the  Church  of  Rome;  the  spotted  Panther  is  the  Church  of  England; 
the  Independents  are  bears,  and  the  Calvinists  are  wolves,  etc.  His 
latest  productions  were  poetical  versions  of  portions  of  Juvenal  and 
Pcrsius,  and  of  the  J^neid  of  Virgil.  He  wrote  also,  about  the  same 
time,  his  Fables,  being  imitations  from  Boccaccio  and  Chaucer.  Very 
late  in  life,  also,  he  wrote  his  Ode  to  St.  Cecilia,  the  loftiest  and  most 
imaginative  of  all  his  compositions. 

His  complete  works  were  edited  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  18  vols.,  8vo. 

Roscommon. 

Wentworth  Dillon,  Earl  of  Roscommon,  1633-1684,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  was  a  nobleman  of  cultivated  tastes  and  great  purity  of  char- 
acter; and  he  holds  a  respectable  place  among  English  poets.  He 
wrote  Odes,  Prologues,  etc. ;  translated  Dies  IrjE,  and  Horace's  Art 
of  Poetry ;  and  wrote  an  Essay  on  Translated  Verse.     He  seems  to 


DRYDEN   AND    HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       79 

have  been  about  the  only  writer  of  his  time  who  was  tlioroughly  pure 
and  moral. 

Dorset. 

Charles  Sackville,  Earl  of  Dorset,  1 037-1706,  a  nobleman  of  gay 
life  and  easy  manners,  wrote  a  few  songs  which  were  very  popular, 
and  some  satires  which  "sparkled  with  wit  as  splendid  as  that  of 
Butler."  — Macaulay. 

Dramatic  Writers. 

Several  dramatic  writers  contemporary  with  Dryden  are  worthy  of 
note.  Among  these  may  be  named  the  following :  Thomas  Otway, 
1651-1685,  Avho  began  as  an  actor  in  London,  but,  not  meeting  with 
much  success,  betook  himself  to  writing  plays,  partly  original,  partly 
translations  or  imitations  from  the  French.  ]\lany  of  his  plays  were 
successful  at  the  time,  but  only  two  have  maintained  their  reputation 
among  readers  and  actors  of  the  present  day,  viz. :  The  Orphan,  and 
Venice  Preserved.  Otway  was  improvident  by  nature,  and  died  young 
in  very  indigent  circumstances.  Thomas  Siiadwell,  1640-1092,  who 
was  crowned  poet  laureate,  and  who  had  some  slight  poetic  ability  and 
some  wit,  but  is  now  known  chiefly  by  the  ridicule  heaped  on  him  by 
Dryden.  Nathaniel  Lee,  1658-1691,  Avho  gained  notoriety  as  much 
by  the  irregularities  of  his  life  as  by  his  genius,  was  the  author  of 
eleven  dramas,  all  tragedies  but  one.  Owing  to  his  habits  of  intem- 
perance he  became  insane,  was  for  a  time  in  Bedlam,  and  was  finally 
killed  in  a  street-brawl. 


II.   PHILOSOPHICAL  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  WRITERS. 

Locke. 

John  Locke,  1632-1704,  is  one  of  the  names  always  quoted  in  speak- 
ing of  the  great  thinkers  who  have  largely  influenced  the  current  of 
English  opinion  on  science,  morals,  or  religion. 

By  the  circumstances  of  his  life  he  was  thrown  into  connection  with 
the  statesmen  to  whom  the  public  affairs  of  the  nation  were  subjects  of 
controlling  practical  interest.  His  thoughts  consequently  were  much 
occupied  with  questions  of  this  kind,  and  though  not  a  professed  po- 
litical writer,  in  the  sense  of  being  a  partisan,  he  yet  wrote  several 
treatises  on  political  subjects.  Among  these  may  be  named  particu- 
larly his  Letters  on  Toleration,  giving  views  in  regard  to  political  lib- 
erty much  in  advance  of  his  times.     He  wrote  also  Thoughts  concern- 


80  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

ing  Education,  a  treatise  which,  though  containing  some  things  now 
ascertained  to  be  impracticable,  has  yet  many  vahiable  suggestions,  and 
is  an  important  part  of  the  literature  of  that  subject. 

The  great  work  of  his  life,  however,  was  An  Essay  concerning  the 
Human  Understanding.  He  was  occupied  with  this,  at  intervals,  for 
eighteen  years.  It  gave  him  rank  as  a  philosopher  and  metaphysician 
of  world-wide  celebrity,  causing  his  name  to  be  associated  with  those 
of  Bacon  and  Newton  as  leaders  of  human  thought.  The  theory 
which  Locke  undertook  to  explode  was  the  old  doctrine  of  innate 
ideas,  and  the  theory  Avhich  he  proposed  in  its  place  was  that  all  hu- 
man knowledge  begins  with  sensation.  This  theory,  which  for  a  time 
obtained  almost  universal  ascendency,  has  been  materially  modified 
since  his  day,  and  he  himself  is  no  longer  acknowledged  as  a  leader 
in  any  school  of  philosophy.  But  he  did  a  great  service  by  his  unan- 
swerable refutation  of  many  errors  which  up  to  that  time  held  undis- 
puted sway,  and  by  the  example  which  he  gave  of  a  more  rational 
way  of  treating  metaphysical  subjects. 

Locke's  Essay,  on  account  of  the  freshness  and  vigor  of  its  style, 
held  its  place  as  a  text-book  in  institutions  of  learning  much  longer 
than  it  otherwise  would  have  done.  While  he  makes  no  pretence  to 
ornament,  and  never  runs  into  smooth  phrase  or  rounded  periods,  he 
avoids  most  sedulously  the  uncouth  and  abstruse  jargon  of  the  older 
writers  on  metaphysics,  and  aims  everywhere  to  make  his  meaning 
plain  and  obvious  to  the  common  understanding.  His  diction  is  that 
of  the  common  people,  his  illustrations  are  drawn  from  common  life. 
His  book,  even  in  the  abstrusest  parts  of  it,  is  entertaining. 

Boyle. 

Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  1627-1691,  son  of  the  "  Great  Earl  of  Cork,"  is 
greatly  distinguished  as  an  experimental  philosopher,  of  the  school  of 
Bacon,  and  as  the  chief  founder  of  the  Royal  Society.  Boyle  was  a 
very  devout  man,  and  though  strongly  tempted  to  enter  into  political 
life,  he  steadily  declined,  and  gave  himself  entirely  to  the  cultivation 
of  science  and  the  practice  of  religious  duties,  and  at  his  death  he 
bequeathed  a  fund  for  the  endowment  of  an  animal  course  of  lectures 
in  defence  of  the  Christian  religion.  These  lectures  began  in  1692,  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years  ago.  Many  of  them  have  been  printed. 
They  form  a  valuable  series  of  works  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 
Mr.  Boyle  himself  wrote  several  works  of  the  same  sort,  and  studied 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages  for  the  sake  of  qualifying  himself 
better  to  write  on  this  subject.  After  his  death,  his  works  were  col- 
lected and  published  in  5  vols.,  fol. 


DRYDEN  AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.       81 

Temple. 

Sir  William  Temple,  1628-1699,  a  well-known  English  diplomatist, 
attained  distinction  as  a  writer.  Temple's  works  fall  into  two  classes. 
Memoirs  and  Miscellanies.  The  former  consist  chiefly  of  letters  and 
autobiographical  essays.  The  latter  comprise  his  detached  essays  on 
various  topics.  One  of  them,  the  Essay  on  Ancient  Learning,  has  at- 
tained considerable  notoriety  from  the  circumstance  that  its  author  was 
totally  unfamiliar  with  the  subject,  and  betrayed  his  ignorance.  Tem- 
ple's chief  merit  .consists  in  his  style,  which  has  received  the  almost 
universal  praise  of  critics. 

Evelyn. 

John  Evelyn,  F.  E.  S.,  1620-1705,  is  chiefly  known  by  his  Sylva,  or 
a  Discourse  on  Forest  Trees.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of 
the  Royal  Society ;  his  work  on  forest  trees  was  written  at  their  re- 
quest, and  was  the  first  work  published  by  them.  It  was  written  in 
view  of  the  rapid  destruction  and  disappearance  of  the  forest  trees  in 
England,  and  of  the  importance  of  maintaining  a  proper  amount  of 
timber  on  the  island,  in  order  to  the  naval  supremacy  of  the  nation. 
The  work  was  a  seaspnable  one,  and  it  seems  to  have  had  the  desired 
effect. 

III.     THEOLOGICAL  ^;VRITERS. 

Tillotson. 

John  Tillotson,  D.  D.,  1630-1694,  was  greatly  distinguished  as  a 
pulpit  orator.  His  Sermons  were  considered  the  highest  models  of 
pulpit  eloquence ;  and  though  not  now  held  in  so  great  estimation  as 
they  once  were,  they  still  have  an  honored  place  in  English  literature. 
Tillotson  was  born  of  Puritan  stock,  but  early  left  the  Presbyterians 
and  conformed  to  the  Church  of  England.  He  was  educated  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  rose  through  a  long  series  of  promotions  until  be  oecame 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  is  universally  esteemed  as  one  of  the 
great  lights  of  the  English  Church.  His  special  distinctions  were  his 
moderation  and  good  sense  as  an  ecclesiast,  and  his  eloquence  as  a 
preacher.  His  reputation  in  the  latter  point  was  prodigious  during 
his  life,  and  for  one  or  two  generations  after  his  decease.  His  col- 
lected works,  chiefly  Sermons,  have  been  frequently  printed,  formerly 
in  3  vols.,  folio,  latterly  in  12  vols.,  8vo. 

F 


82  EiTGLISH    LITEEATURE. 

South. 

Eobert  South,  D.  D.,  1633-1716,  is  generally  regarded  as  the  most 
eloquent  preacher  of  his  day.  He  was  a  zealous  Koyalist  and  Epis- 
copalian, and  waged  unsparing  war  upon  the  Puritans  with  his  tongue 
and  with  his  pen.  South's  chief  distinction  was  as  a  preacher.  His 
sermons  are  masterpieces  of  vigorous  sense  and  sound  English,  though 
not  altogether  as  decorous  as  modern  taste  requires  in  pulpit  dis- 
courses. His  works,  chiefly  sermons,  have  been  published  in  5  vols., 
8vo. 

Stillingfleet. 

Edward  Stillingfleet,  1635-1699,  was  a  learned  Bishop  of  the  Church 
of  England.  He  was  the  author  of  numerous  treatises  on  theological 
subjects,  and  after  his  death  his  Works  were  published  in  6  vols.,  fol. 
The  most  elaborate  and  important  were  the  following :  Origines  Sacra?, 
or  A  Eational  Account  of  the  Grounds  of  Natural  and  Kevealed  Eeli- 
gion;  Origines  Britaunicse,  or  The  Antiquities  of  the  British  Churches. 

Beveridge. 

William  Beveridge,  D.  D.,  1637-1708,  a  Bishop  of  the  English 
Church,  was  the  author  of  several  theological  treatises  in  Latin,  and 
of  numerous  works  in  English,  the  latter  being  chiefly  on  the  practical 
duties  of  religion.  The  most  esteemed  of  his  devotional  treatises  is 
his  Private  Thoughts  upon  Religion.  His  English  works  have  been 
printed  in  9  vols,,  8vo. 

Bishop  Ken. 

Thomas  Ken,  D.  D.,  1637-1710,  a  learned  and  amiable  Bishop  of 
the  Church  of  England,  is  especially  noted  for  his  devotional  works. 
The  familiar  long-metre  doxology,  "  Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow,"  is  the  composition  of  this  good  prelate,  being  the  conclud- 
ing verse  of  his  three  hymns  for  Morning,  Evening,  and  Midnight. 
It  is,  of  itself,  suflBcient  to  give  him  a  lasting  place  in  the  memory  of 
all  God's  people. 

Matthew  Henry. 

Matthew  Henry,  1662-1714,  one  of  the  leading  Kon-conformist 
divines  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  chiefly  known  as  a  commenta- 
tor on  the  Scriptures.  Henry's  Commentary  has  passed  through  al- 
most innumerable  editions,  both  in  England  and  America.  The 
London  Religious  Tract  Society,  1831-1835,  published  a  Commentary 


DRYDEN   AND    HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       83 

made  up  of  selections  from  Henry  and  Scott,  which  had  a  prodigious 
sale.  As  a  work  replete  with  devout  thoughts,  often  expressed  with 
a  peculiar  verbal  antithesis  which  adds  to  their  piquancy  and  force, 
Henry's  Commentary  is  unrivalled.  But  the  lack  of  that  philological 
and  linguistic,  knowledge  which  must  be  the  basis  of  all  true  biblical 
comment,  and  the  rise  since  his  time  of  a  different  and  better  style  of 
exegesis,  have  caused  his  work,  with  all  its  merits,  to  be  gradually 
superseded. 

IV.    THE    EARLY    FRIENDS. 

George  Fox. 

George  Fox,  1624-1690,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  was 
chiefly  distinguished  by  his  apostolic  zeal  and  labors  as  a  preacher. 
He  has  also  claims  to  consideration  as  a  writer,  both  for  the  amount 
and  character  of  his  writings,  and  for  the  relation  which  they  bear  to 
a  large  and  influential  society  of  Christians.  The  following  are  his 
principal  works:  Journal  of  his  Life  and  Travels;  Collection  of 
Christian  Epistles,  Letters,  and  Testimonies ;  Gospel  Truth  Demon- 
strated in  a  Collection  of  Doctrinal  Books,  etc.  Fox's  Journal  par- 
ticularly is  worthy  of  commendation. 

Barclay. 

Eobert  Barclay,  1648-1690,  was  an  early  member  and  the  most  re- 
nowned apologist  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Barclay  was  of  noble 
family,  and  received  a  thorough  education.  He  attended  the  Scots 
College  in  Paris,  of  which  his  uncle  was  principal,  and  while  there 
became  thoroughly  adept  in  the  French  and  Latin  tongues,  speaking 
and  writing  them  witli  facility.  Subsequently  he  gained  a  knowledge 
of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  Having  more  education  than  most  of  the 
early  leaders  of  the  Society,  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  be  their  champion  by 
the  pen.  As  in  those  days  George  Fox  was  their  chief  preacher,  so 
Barclay  was  their  chief  writer.  The  greatest  of  all  his  works  was  An 
Apology  for  the  True  Christian  Divinity,  as  the  same  is  held  forth  and 
preached  by  the  People  called  in  Scorn,  Quakers.  Barclay's  Apology 
is  an  acknowledged  classic  in  the  theological  literature  of  the  Society. 
It  has  been  translated  into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe. 

William  Penn. 

William  Penn,  1644-1718,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  was,  next 
to  Barclay,  the  ablest  advocate  and  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of  the 


84  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Friends.  His  distinguished  social  position,  and  his  eminent  public 
services,  if  they  did  not  add  to  the  force  of  his  arguments,  gained  for 
them  respectful  attention,  and  helped  to  give  protection  and  security 
to  the  rising  sect. 

Penn's  writings  were  numerous  and  exerted  a  powerful  influence. 
They  were  published  in  a  collected  form  in  1728,  in  2  vols.,  folio. 
Those  of  most  note  are  No  Cross,  No  Crown ;  Quakerism  a  New 
Name  for  Old  Christianity ;  The  Great  Law  of  Liberty  of  Conscience 
Debated  and  Defended. 

Colonization  Scheme.  —  One  item  in  the  property  which  Penn  inher- 
ited from  his  father  was  a  claim  against  the  Government  of  £16,000 
for  services  rendered.  Believing  that  he  could  best  realize  his  views 
in  regard  to  religious  and  civil  liberty  in  a  new  country,  he  sold  his 
claim  to  the  Government  for  the  territory  which  afterwards  became 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  with  the  right  to  colonize  the  same. 
Penn  came  to  his  new  colony  in  1682,  and  remained  until  1684,  regu- 
lating its  afiairs.  Returning  to  England,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
political  aflfairs  of  England,  and  was  a  great  favorite  with  James  II. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Pope  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(1700-1740.) 

The  eighteenth  century  opens  with  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  the 
last  of  the  Stuart  sovereigns,  1702-1714,  followed  by  the  reign  of 
George  I.,  the  first  of  the  Brunswick  dynasty,  1714-1727. 

The  first  third  of  the  century  is  made  illustrious  by  many  great 
names  in  literature.  For  convenience  of  treatment,  these  are  consid- 
ered under  four  heads,  or  sections :  1.  The  Poets,  beginning  with 
Pope ;  2.  The  Dramatists,  beginning  with  Wycherley ;  3.  The  Prose 
writers,  beginning  with  Addison;  4.  Theological  writers,  beginning 
with  Butler. 

I.    THE    POETS. 

Pope. 

Alexander  Pope,  1688-1744,  reigned  supreme  in  the  domain  of 
letters  during  all  the  first  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  poetry 
has  not  the  naturalness  and  simplicity  of  Chaucer's,  the  universality 
of  Shakespeare's,  the  majestic  and  solemn  earnestness  of  Milton's,  or 
even  the  freedom  and  breadth  of  Dryden's,  nor  did  it  so  appeal  to  the 
consciousness  of  the  national  heart  as  that  of  the  school  which  sprang 
up  near  the  close  of  the  century.  It  was  to  a  certain  degree  artificial. 
Yet  its  art,  it  must  be  confessed,  was  consummate,  and  within  the 
scope  to  which  it  was  limited,  it  reached  a  perfection  which  has  never 
been  surpassed.  It  was  pre-eminently  the  poetry  of  the  wits.  But  it 
could  not  touch,  it  never  touched,  the  national  heart,  like  the  poetry 
of  Cowper  and  of  Burns. 

Pope's  chief  works,  given  in  nearly  the  order  of  their  composition, 
8  85 


86  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

are :  Pastorals,  written  by  him  at  the  age  of  sixteen ;  Essay  on  Criti- 
cism ;  Kape  of  the  Lock ;  Messiah ;  Translations  of  the  Iliad  and  the 
Odyssey  (in  which  latter  he  was  aided  by  Broome  and  Fenton) ;  Essay 
on  Man  ;  and  The  Dunciad. 

There  was  a  time  when  Pope's  poetry  was  considered. the  model  of 
thought  and  expression.  Throughout  the  entire  eighteenth  century 
his  lines  were  regarded  by  all,  except  his  personal  enemies,  as  stamped 
with  profound  genius.  The  modern  school  of  criticism,  however,  has 
put  a  different  estimate  upon  Pope's  merit.  It  has  denied  him  any 
equality  with  the  great  poets,  with  Chaucer,  Shakespeare,  and  MiUon, 
and  scarcely  even  allowed  him  the  first  place  among  the  second-rate 
poets. 

Pope's  works  are  marred  by  conventionalism  and  would-be  neatness. 
Rarely  if  ever  does  the  poet  rise  to  any  flight  of  passion.  His  uniform 
use  of  the  rhyming  heroic  couplet  becomes  excessively  monotonous ; 
every  couplet  and  line  is  so  nicely  turned  and  so  carefully  balanced, 
that  the  reader  longs  for  an  occasional  irregularity.  Pope  is  undoubt- 
edly witty  and  sarcastic.  The  tendency  to  point  and  polish,  which 
disqualified  him  for  being  a  true  epic  poet,  has  made  him  the  most 
successful  epigrammatist  in  the  language.  No  one  has  ever  equalled 
him  in  the  art  of  turning  a  couplet. 

The  reader  will  search  in  vain  in  Pope  for  any  of  those  broad 
strokes  whereby  a  truly  grand  poet  delineates  a  character  or  suggests 
a  profound  truth,  any  up-welling  of  emotion,  any  daring  flight  of  im- 
agination, any  sweet  play  of  humor.  Still,  Pope  will  remain  what  he 
has  ever  been,  an  elegant  writer  of  English.  His  correctness  in  the 
structure  of  phrases  and  the  choice  of  words,  his  avoidance  of  every- 
thing bizarre,  render  him  a  safe  model  of  study  for  those  whose  style 
is  still  crude.  Pope's  verse  can  scarcely  be  a  stimulant,  but  it  may 
prove  a  wholesome  corrective. 

Pope's  Translation  of  Homer  is  accurate  enough;  and  yet  it  is  not 
Homer,  for  the  simple  reason  that  Homer  is  pre-eminently  the  naive 
poet  and  Pope  is  the  perfect  type  of  the  conventional  poet.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  touch  of  sympathy  between  them.  The  Essay  on 
Man  contains  an  immense  number  of  excellent  precepts  couched  in 
excellent  couplets,  any  one  of  which  by  itself  would  be  perfect,  but 
which  taken  together  form  a  sermon  rather  than  a  poem.  The  Rape 
of  the  Lock  displays  more  fancy  and  conceit  than  imagination,  Abe- 
lard  and  Eloise  find  the  fire  of  their  passion  dampened  materially  by 
the  I*opean  measure.  The  Dunciad  is  probably  Pope's  best  work.  In 
it  he  had  the  opportunity  of  exhibiting  to  the  full  his  peculiar  powers 
of  satire,  and  the  success  of  his  poison-tipped,  winged  couplets  may  be 
estimated  by  the  commotion  and  wrath  which  they  aroused. 


POPE    AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  87 

Prior. 

Matthew  Prior,  1664-1721,  was  a  poet  of  considerable  celebrity  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Prior's  writings  are  not  numerous.  The 
best  known  longer  works  are :  The  Country  Mouse  and  the  City  Mouse, 
written  by  Prior  and  Montagu  together,  being  a  satire  upon  Dry  den's 
Hind  and  Panther ;  his  Carmen  Seculare,  a  panegyric  on  William 
III.;  Solomon,  and  Alma,  written  in  prison.  His  short,  fugitive 
pieces,  however,  are  generally  considered  preferable.  The  more  elab- 
orate poems  are  heavy,  and  spoiled  by  the  conceits  of  the  age.  But 
the  tales  and  apologues  are  light,  graceful,  sparkling,  and  in  the  tone 
of  good  society. 

Gay. 

John  Gay,  1688-1732,  was  one  of  several  poets  whose  names  and 
fortunes  are  linked  in  history  with  those  of  Pope  and  Swift.  His  first 
publication,  Kural  Sports,  did  not  meet  with  much  success.  His  next, 
the  Shepherd's  Week,  in  Six  Pastorals,  intended  to  ridicule  Ambrose 
Philips,  contained  so  much  genuine  comic  humor,  and  such  pleasant 
pictures  of  country  life,  that  it  became  popular  on  its  own  account, 
rather  than  for  its  ridicule  of  another.  Trivia,  or  the  Art  of  Walking 
the  Streets  of  London,  is  in  the  mock-heroic  style,  giving  an  account 
of  the  dangers  encountered  in  walking  through  the  crowded  streets  of 
the  metropolis.  After  several  attempts  at  opera,  with  only  doubtful 
success,  he  wrote  the  Beggar's  Opera,  in  which  the  principal  charac- 
ters are  thieves  and  highwaymen.  It  had  unbounded  success,  being 
played  for  sixty-three  nights,  and  it  still  holds  its  place  occasionally 
upon  the  stage.  The  Beggar's  Opera  is  decidedly  objectionable,  on 
account  of  the  looseness  of  its  morals.  It  is  simply  employing  the 
arts  of  music  and  song  to  make  the  life  of  a  highwayman  appear  agree- 
able and  attractive,  and  its  representation  has  always  been  followed  by 
an  increase  of  crime.  Gay  has  been  called,  indeed,  the  "  Orpheus  of 
Highwaymen." 

Before  writing  the  Beggar's  Opera,  and  while  in  straitened  circum- 
stances, he  wrote  a  volume  of  Fables.  They  are  the  most  pleasing  of 
all  his  works,  and  the  only  ones  that  have  any  enduring  hold  upon  the 
public  mind,  except  his  ballad  of  Black-Eyed  Susan. 

Philips. 

Ambrose  Philips,  1675-1749,  was  a  poet  and  dramatic  writer  of 
considerable  note.    He  was  the  author  of  some  pastorals,  a  tragedy 


88  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

called  The  Distressed  Mother,  a  translation  of  Sappho's  Hymn  to 
Venus,  and  a  series  of  "  poems  of  short  lines,"  or  character-pictures 
of  the  leading  personages  of  the  day. 

Parnell. 

Thomas  Parnell,  1679-1718,  is  another  of  the  minor  British  poets 
of  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Some  of  his  poems,  such 
as  The  Hermit,  and  the  Hymn  to  Contentment,  maintain  a  permanent 
position  among  the  choice  pieces  of  English  literature. 

Thomson. 

James  Thomson,  1700-1748,  is  the  best  of  the  descriptive  poets  of 
this  period.  His  Seasons,  and  his  Castle  of  Indolence,  have  taken  a 
permanent  place  in  literature.  He  is  one  of  those  minor  poets  who 
are  read  by  each,  successive  generation  with  about  equal  favor.  His 
fame  is  as  high  now  as  it  was  during  his  lifetime,  perhaps  higher. 
His  descriptions  of  English  scenery,  because  of  their  faithfulness  to 
nature,  are  much  read  by  foreigners,  especially  by  Germans. 

Robert  Blair. 

Rev.  Robert  Blair,  1699-1747,, was  a  Scotch  poet  and  clergyman, 
distantly  related  to  Dr.  Hugh  Blair,  and  the  author  of  a  poem  of 
some  note,  called  The  Grave.  Blair's  Grave  was  once  much  read,  but 
later  and  better  works  have  pretty  much  crowded  it  aside.  It  is  now 
rarely  found  except  on  the  upper  shelves  consecrated  to  forgotten 
worthies. 

II.    THE  DRAMATISTS. 

A  school  of  dramatists  prevailed  in  the  period  now  under  consid- 
eration, who  were  equally  distinguished  by  their  abilities  and  their 
licentiousness.  The  writers  of  this  class  belong  partly  to  the  previous 
century,  as  they  began  their  career  during  the  life  of  Dryden,  and 
took  their  character  from  the  general  corruption  of  manners  which 
prevailed  after  the  restoration  of  the  Stuart  dynasty.  The  four  most 
conspicuous  of  these  writers  were  Congreve,  Wycherley,  Vanbrugh, 
and  Farquhar,  of  whom  Wycherley  was  the  earliest,  and  Congreve  was, 
by  general  consent,  the  greatest.  With  these  writers  is  indissolubly 
connected  the  name  of  Jeremy  Collier,  the  man  who,  almost  single- 
handed,  undertook  to  stem  this  general  torrent  of  licentiousness,  and 
who  so  effectually  exposed  the  enormous  immoralities  of  the  stage  as 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  89 

to  arouse  the  nation  to  a  sense  of  shame,  and  to  bring  back  dramatic, 
literature  once  more  within  the  decencies  and  proprieties  of  life. 

Wyeherley. 

William  Wyeherley,  1640-1715,  was  a  prominent  dramatist  of  the 
age  of  the  Restoration,  and  the  founder  of  the  school  of  licentious  and 
immoral  plays  which  then  prevailed. 

The  best  known  of  his  dramas  are  Love  in  a  Wood,  The  Gentleman 
Dancing-Master,  The  Country  Wife,  and  The  Plain  Dealer.  He  also 
published  a  volume  of  Miscellaneous  Poems,  which  Macaulay  disposes 
of  by  the  trenchant  phrase,  "  this  bulky  volume  of  obscene  doggerel." 
"  The  only  thing  original  about  Wyeherley,  the  only  thing  which  he 
could  furnish  from  his  own  mind  in  inexhaustible  abundance,  was 
profligacy."  —  Macaulay. 

Congreve. 

William  Congreve,  1666-1729,  a  native  of  Ireland,  excelled  all  the 
men  of  his  generation  as  a  writer  of  the  licentious  and  immoral  plays  then 
in  fashion.  At  the  bringing  out  of  his  first  play,  The  Old  Bachelor, 
which  could  not  now  be  read  aloud  in  any  family  circle,  Congreve  had 
the  support  of  all  the  great  theatrical  celebrities,  Mr,  Betterton,  Mr. 
Powel,  Mrs.  Bracegirdle,  Mrs.  Barry;  his  play  was  commended  by 
Dryden,  as  being  the  best  he  had  ever  heard ;  he  received  official  re- 
cognition from  the  Government,  in  the  bestowal  by  Lord  Halifax  of  a 
lucrative  office  in  the  Customs ;  the  public  were  in  ecstasies. 

Vanbrugh. 

Sir  John  Vanbrugh,  1666-1726,  another  of  those  corrupt  dramatists, 
was  about  equally  distinguished  as  a  writer  and  an  architect.  His  two 
best  known  plays  are  The  Relapse,  and  The  Provoked  Wife.  He  pos- 
sessed all  the  merits  and  demerits  of  his  age.  His  plays  abound  in 
wit  and  strokes  of  comic  delineation,  but  are  all  disfigured  by  their 
tone  of  profligacy.  Like  Wyeherley  and  Congreve,  Vanbrugh  failed 
to  rise  superior  to  the  manners  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  although 
he  is  perhaps  not  so  wholly  abandoned  to  them  as  were  many  of  his 
contemporaries. 

Farquhar. 

George  Farquhar,  1678-1707,  was  another  dramatic  writer  of  note. 
He  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  and  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  but 
abandoned  study  and  turned  player.     After  playing  for  some  time,  he 
8* 


90  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

began  writing  for  the  stage,  and  with  marked  success.  His  plays  are 
all  in  the  comic  vein,  either  Comedies  or  Farces,  and  like  the  other 
dramas  of  those  days  are  licentious  and  immoral. 

Jeremy  Collier. 

Jeremy  Collier,  1650-1726,  an  English  Nonjuring  Bishop,  and  a 
man  of  great  celebrity,  had  in  a  high  degree  what  the  English  call 
pluck,  and  neither  fear  nor  favor  could  make  him  swerve  a  hair  from 
what  he  deemed  to  be  right  and  true.  Collier  was  not  a  dramatist,  but 
he  is  considered  in  this  connection,  because  his  greatest  celebrity  grew 
out  of  the  battle  which  he  had  with  the  play-writers.  The  work  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  vras  A  Short  View  of  the  Profaneness 
and  Immorality  of  the  Stage.  At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  there  been  a  stage  so  corrupt  and  licentious  as  that  of  England 
after  the  downfall  of  the  Puritans  and  the  return  of  the  Stuarts  to  power. 
Collier  attacked  the  monstrous  evil.  His  essay  threw  the  whole  lit- 
erary world  into  commotion.  Some  of  the  dramatists  attempted  a 
reply,  but  their  defence  was  lame.  The  victory  was  overwhelming. 
After  fighting  and  floundering  for  some  years,  these  indecent  writers 
were  either  silenced,  or  were  obliged  to  reform  the  character  of  their 
plays ;  and  the  English  drama  ever  since  has  been  of  a  more  elevated 
stamp,  in  consequence  of  the  terrible  castigation  which  it  then  received. 

III.     THE    PROSE    WRITERS. 

Addison. 

Joseph  Addison,  1672-1719,  one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of  Eng- 
lish literature,  excelled,  as  did  some  others  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
section,  both  in  prose  and  verse.  His  greatest  distinction,  however, 
was  as  a  writer  of  prose.  He  is  generally  accepted  as  the  prince  of 
English  Essayists,  and  his  Essays  in  The  Spectator  are  held  to  be  the 
finest  models  in  the  language  of  that  style  of  writing. 

Addison  had  every  advantage  of  education  which  the  University  of 
Oxford  and  the  best  preparatory  schools  in  England  could  furnish,  and 
he  very  early  gave  evidence  of  that  elegant  scholarship  and  refined 
taste  which  marked  all  his  productions.  He  entered  tlie  University  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  and  greatly  distinguished  himself  there  by  his  dili- 
gence and  scholarship.  He  began  his  career  as  an  author  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  and  he  continued  to  write  and  publish,  both  in  prose 
and  verse,  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

A  poem  addressed  to  King  William  on  one  of  his  campaigns,  and 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  91 

written  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  secured  to  the  young  author  an  an- 
nual pension  of  £300.  At  the  age  of  tAventy-eight  he  visited  Italy, 
where  he  remained  for  two  or  three  years.  On  the  death  of  the  King, 
and  the  discontinuance  of  the  pension,  Addison  was  obliged  to  look 
about  him  for  some  other  means  of  subsistence.  Not  long  after,  how- 
ever, he  was  applied  to  by  the  leaders  of  the  Government  under  the 
new  sovereign  to  write  a  poem  commemorative  of  the  celebrated  battle 
of  Blenheim,  The  task  was  undertaken  by  Addison,  and  the  poem, 
called  The  Campaign,  gave  great  satisfaction,  and  led  to  a  long  series 
of  political  preferments. 

Addison's  writings,  both  prose  and  poetical,  are  very  numerous.  The 
poems  best  known  are  The  Campaign,  already  mentioned,  and  the 
tragedy  of  Cato.  His  principal  prose  writings  are  essays  contributed 
to  The  Tatler  and  The  Spectator.  It  is  as  an  Essayist  that  his  pecu- 
liar excellencies  appear  to  the  greatest  advantage.  His  contributions 
to  the  papers  just  named,  particularly  those  to  The  Spectator,  of  which 
paper  he  was  the  originator,  are  generally  conceded  to  be  the  best 
specimens  of  essay  writing  to  be  found  in  the  language,  and  they  are 
held  up  by  the  most  eminent  critics  as  models  of  style. 

Among  the  smaller  poems  of  Addison  are  four  of  the  nature  of 
hymns,  which  seem  absolutely  perfect,  and  which  have  found  their 
way  into  the  hymn-books  of  nearly  every  Christian  Church.  These 
are  "  The  Lord  my  pasture  shall  prepare,"  "  Wlien  all  thy  mercies,  O 
my  God,"  "  The  spacious  firmament  on  high,"  and  "  When  rising  from 
the  bed  of  death."   They  were  all  published  originally  in  The  Spectator. 

Steele. 

Sir  Richard  Steele,  1671-1729,  is  the  writer  of  iMs  age  who  comes 
nearest  to  the  peculiar  qualities  and  the  matchless  excellence  of  Addison. 
Like  Addison,  too,  Steele's  chief  distinction  is  as  an  Essayist.  In  the 
Tatler,  Spectator,  and  Guardian,  Steele's  papers  rank  very  little  below 
those  of  his  great  compeer.  If  Addison  is  clearly  the  first,  Steele  is 
with  equal  clearness  the  second,  of  English  Essayists. 

Steele  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  was  educated  at  the  Charter- 
house School,  and  afterwards  at  Oxford,  but  did  not  obtain  his  degree. 
He  enlisted  in  the  Horse-Guards,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain. 
During  this  period  of  his  life,  and  also  subsequently,  though  in  a  less 
degree,  he  was  idle,  dissipated,  and  extravagant. 

Steele  took  an  active  part  in  politics,  and  entered  Parliament  as 
a  champion  of  the  Whig  party.  He  was  expelled  from  the  House 
for  his  political  pamphlet  entitled  The  Crisis,  in  which  he  set  forth 


92  ENGLISH    LITEKATURE. 

freely  the  great  dangers  to  which  the  Protestant  cause  was  exposed. 
On  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  Steele  came  into  favor, 
was  returned  to  Parliament,  and  made  a  baronet. 

Steele  projected  successively  the  Tatler,  the  Spectator,  and  the 
Guardian.  In  these  several  undertakings  he  was  largely  assisted  by 
Addison,  and  in  the  Spectator  the  latter's  share  was,  it  is  well  known, 
the  largest.  As  an  author  Steele's  reputation  rests  chiefly  upon  his 
essays.  His  comedies  were  comparatively  unsuccessful.  But  as  an 
essayist  his  fame  will  be  lasting.  To  the  Tatler,  the  Spectator,  and 
the  Guardian  he  contributed  respectively  188,  240,  and  82  papers.  He 
and  Addison  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  founders  of  the  easy  and 
graceful  essay  style  of  English  prose,  equally  removed  from  the 
weighty  and  involved  periods  of  Milton  and  the  puerile  conceits  of 
the  Eestoration. 

Swift. 

Jonathan  Swift,  1667-1745,  was,  of  all  the  writers  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived,  the  one  possessing  the  greatest  originality  and  power. 
His  peculiarities,  however,  both  as  a  writer  and  as  a  man,  were  no 
less  marked,  and  mostly  not  of  an  agreeable  character.  Hence  he  has 
been,  deservedly,  less  esteemed  than  most  of  his  distinguished  con- 
temporaries, by  those  who  have  been  free  to  admit  his  transcendent 
abilities. 

This  unique  personage  in  English  letters  was  born  in  Dublin,  of 
English  parents,  several  months  after  the  death  of  his  father.  Young 
Swift  was  supported  by  relatives,  and  sent  by  them  to  school  and 
afterwards  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  Here  he  did  not  improve  his 
time  after  the  orthodox  fashion,  but  was  chiefly  occupied  in  writing 
political  and  per|paal  satires.  After  remaining  seven  years  at  college 
he  removed  to  England,  and  entered  the  service  of  Sir  William  Temple 
as  private  secretary.  "  He  remained  in  this  position  about  ten  years. 

A  large  part  of  Swift's  writings  were  of  a  partisan  character,  on  the 
politics  of  the  day.  For  his  services  in  this  respect  he  was  made 
Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  in  Dublin.  He  is  usually  designated  as  "Dean 
Swift."  The  most  celebrated  of  his  political  writings  was  the  Dra- 
pier's  Letters,  criticising  the  English  Government  in  regard  to  Irish 
affairs.  Another  pamphlet  which  gained  much  notoriety  was  the 
Modest  Proposal.  This  was  an  ironical  satire  on  the  English  govern- 
ment of  Ireland,  in  which  the  autlior  gravely  proposes  to  relieve  the 
public  distress  by  making  the  children  of  the  poor  serve  as  food  for 
the  rich. 

For  the  last  two  or  three  years  of  his  life  he  was  hopelessly  insane. 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  93 

The  works  by  which  he  is  best  known  are  Gulliver's  Travels  and 
the  Tale  of  a  Tub. 

As  a  writer,  Swift  is  without  a  parallel  in  English  letters.  No  one 
since  the  days  of  Rabelais  has  equalled  him  in  humor  and  satire.  His 
style  is  a  model  of  clear,  forcible  expression,  displaying  a  consummate 
knowledge  of  the  foibles  and  vices  of  mankind.  He  has  no  sympathy 
with  the  grander  flights  of  the  imagination ;  he  never  rises  above  the 
earth.  But  in  his  sphere  he  is  inimitable.  Much  of  the  coarseness 
that  disfigures  his  writings  is  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  —  but  not  all. 
Swift  would  have  been  coarse  in  any  age.  In  his  manners  Swift  was 
taciturn  and  unmoved,  even  amidst  the  laughter  that  his  own  humor 
had  produced,  sparing  no  one  with  his  satire,  yet  of  a  not  unkindly 
disposition  to  those  who  knew  him  well,  and  as  shrewd  and  original 
in  his  conversation  as  in  his  writings. 

Arbuthnot. 

John  Arbuthnot,  M.D.,  1675-1734,  was  one  of  that  brilliant  circle 
of  authors  and  wits,  of  which  Pope  and  Swift  were  the  central  figures. 
The  Scriblerus  Club,  formed  in  1714,  counted  among  its  members  Ar- 
buthnot, Swift,  Pope,  Gray,  Congreve,  Atterbury,  and  Harley.  Their 
object,  according  to  Pope,  was  "to  ridicule  all  the  false  tastes  in  learn- 
ing, under  the  character  of  a  man  of  capacity  enough,  that  had  dipped 
into  every  art  and  science,  but  injudiciously  in  each."  The  club  did 
not  continue  long,  but  it  gave  birth  to  the  following  works ;  The  First 
Book  of  Martinus  Scriblerus  (by  Arbuthnot) ;  The  Travels  of  Gulli- 
ver (by  Swift) ;  and  The  Art  of  Sinking  (by  Pope).  Arbuthnot's 
most  brilliant  performance  was  a  work  of  humor,  entitled  The  His- 
tory of  John  Bull,  and  intended  to  ridicule  the  Duke  of  Marlborough. 
Arbuthnot  was  a  general  favorite  among  the  brilliant  authors  with 
whom  he  was  associated.  They  were  filled  with  jealousies  of  each 
other,  but  they  all  speak  in  terms  of  admiration  and  kindness  of  him. 

Shaftesbury. 

Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  1671-1713,  was  a 
statesman  and  writer  of  illustrious  descent,  and  of  equally  illustrious 
abilities. 

Shaftesbury's  writings  are  numerous,  and  have  been  held  in  high 
estimation,  notwithstanding  their  faults  of  style.  His  best  known 
work  is  Characteristics  of  Men,  Matters,  Opinions,  and  Times,  3  vols., 
8vo.  He  was  educated  under  the  special  care  of  John  Locke.  As 
a  statei-sman,  he  was  much  trusted  by  King  William.     Warburton 


94  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

scented  infidelity  in  the  Characteristics,  but  the  sober  judgment  of 
subsequent  and  abler  critics  has  not  confirmed  the  suspicion.  Shaftes- 
bury's chief  fault  of  style  is  a  want  of  simplicity.  "  His  lordship  can 
express  nothing  with  simplicity.  He  seems  to  have  considered  it  vul- 
gar, and  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  man  of  quality,  to  speak  like  other 
men."  —  Blair. 

Bolingbroke. 

Henry  St.  John,  Viscount  Bolingbroke,  1678-1751,  was  a  political 
writer  and  speaker,  contemporary  with  Pope,  Swift,  and  Addison. 
Bolingbroke,  if  not  the  ablest  and  most  profound,  was  at  least  the 
most  brilliant  of  the  illustrious  company  of  authors  that  flourished  in 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He  owed  no  little  of  his 
celebrity,  in  his  own  time,  to  his  fascinating  manners,  the  charm  of 
his  conversation,  and  even  his  personal  beauty.  It  is  not  to  be  denied, 
however,  that  he  had  talents  of  a  very  high  order,  though  he  used 
them  for  ends  thoroughly  selfish  and  often  ignoble,  and  he  has  left 
behind  no  monument  of  genius  worthy  of  the  large  space  which  he 
occupied  in  the  public  estimation  while  he  lived.  His  youth  was  no- 
torious for  its  profligacy  and  libertinism,  his  meridian  of  public  life 
was  one  of  splendid  intrigue  rather  than  of  statesmanship,  and  he 
bequeathed  in  dying  a  posthumous  work  of  an  irreligious  character, 
which  he  had  not  the  courage  to  avow  when  living. 

Bolingbroke's  literary  executor,  David  Mallet,  brought  out  a  sump- 
tuous edition  of  his  lordship's  works,  in  1754,  in  5  vols.,  4to.  The 
works  which  obtained  the  greatest  notoriety  were  the  Idea  of  a  Pa- 
triot King,  and  the  Study  and  Use  of  History.  In  reference  to  the 
works  of  a  sceptical  kind  which  Bolingbroke  left  to  Mallet  to  be  pub- 
lished posthumously.  Dr.  Johnson  said :  "  Sir,  he  was  a  scoundrel  and 
a  coward :  a  scoundrel,  for  charging  a  blunderbuss  against  religion 
and  morality ;  a  coward,  because  he  had  not  the  resolution  to  fire  it 
off  himself,  but  left  half  a  crown  to  a  beggarly  Scotchman  to  draw 
the  trigger  after  his  death." 

Bishop  Atterbury. 

Francis  Atterbury,  1662-1732,  Bishop  of  Kochester,  was  the  inti- 
mate friend  and  associate  of  Swift,  Pope,  Bolingbroke,  and  the  other 
eminent  men  of  that  day.  Pie  was  a  man  of  brilliant  parts,  bold  and 
self-reliant  in  temper,  always  ready  to  lend  a  hand  in  a  literary  or  a 
political  contest,  and  better  fitted  for  such  work  probably  than  for 
that  to  which  he  was  ordained.  His  sermons,  however,  are  exceed- 
ingly able,  and  in  a  literary  view  are  among  the  best  that  we  have. 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  95 

He  took  an  active  part  in  the  controversy  between  Bentley  and  Boyle 
about  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris,  more  than  half  of 
Boyle's  portion  being  written  by  Atterbury. 

Bishop   Berkeley, 

George  Berkeley,  D.  D.,  1684-1753,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  was  highly 
distinguished  as  a  philanthropist  and  a  philosophical  writer.  Berke- 
ley was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin  ; 
and  the  associate  of  Pope,  Swift,  Addison,  Steele,  Atterbury,  and 
Arbuthnot.  Among  his  philanthropic  schemes  was  one  for  the  con- 
version of  the  American  savages,  and  as  preparatory  to  this,  the  found- 
ing of  a  University  in  the  Bermudas.  He  obtained  a  Parliamentary 
grant  of  £20,000  for  this  purpose,  and  several  large  private  subscrip- 
tions. A  charter  was  granted,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a 
President  and  nine  Fellows.  The  Queen  offered  Berkeley  a  Bishopric, 
if  he  would  remain  at  home,  but  he  preferred  the  headship  of  his  new 
College,  and  sailed  for  America.  He  remained  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  for 
two  years,  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  money  promised  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. Finding  that  it  was  not  likely  to  come  at  all,  he  returned 
to  England,  leaving  behind  him  in  the  new  world  pleasant  memories 
of  his  sojourn. 

Berkeley's  works  of  greatest  note  were  those  in  which  he  published 
his  leading  philosophical  idea,  denying  the  existence  of  matter.  This 
idea  was  first  set  forth  in  the  New  Theory  of  Vision,  and  then  more 
fully  in  the  Principles  of  Human  Knowledge.  The  Bishop's  essays 
made  a  profound  impression,  and  modified  perceptibly  the  current  of 
metaphysical  opinion,  though  his  views  did  not  meet  general  accept- 
ance. Another  work  of  his,  the  Minute  Philosopher,  written  during 
his  residence  at  Newport,  is  a  defence  of  religion  against  the  varioiis 
forms  of  infidelity,  and  is  highly  spoken  of.  The  Bishop  published 
also  several  essays  on  the  use  of  Tar  Water,  and  had  a  renowned  con- 
troversy on  the  subject.  Berkeley  is  spoken  of  in  terms  of  unwonted 
commendation,  not  only  by  the  distinguished  men  of  his  own  day, 
who  seem  to  have  been  charmed  by  the  benevolence  and  genial 
warmth  of  his  private  character,  but  by  astute  critics,  such  as  Dugald 
Stewart  and  Sir  James  Mackintosh. 

No  single  writing  of  Berkeley's  is  so  well  known  as  the  brief  poem 
which  he  wrote  under  the  enthusiasm  excited  by  the  prospect  of  his 
going  to  the  new  world  to  found  his  University.  The  last  stanza  seems 
to  have  been  prophetic : 


96  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day ; 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last. 

Bentley. 

Richard  Bentley,  D.  D.,  1661-1742,  Master  of  Trinity  College,  and 
Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  Cambridge,  is  probably  the  greatest 
classical  critic  that  England  has  yet  produced.  He  is  often  called  the 
British  Aristarchus. 

Bentley' s  chief  work  was  his  Dissertation  upon  the  Epistles  of  Pha- 
laris,  in  which  he  undertook  to  prove  that  those  and  certain  other  oft 
quoted  ancient  documents  were  modern  forgeries.  The  discussion  ex- 
cited a  furious  controversy,  in  which  nearly  all  the  great  scholars  and 
wits  of  the  nation  were  enrolled  against  him,  —  Boyle,  Atterbury,  Con- 
yers  Middleton,  Pope,  Swift,  and  the  whole  posse  of  scholars  hailing 
from  Oxford,  to  which  rival  University  Boyle,  his  nominal  antagonist, 
belonged.  Bentley  held  his  ground  single-handed  against  them  all, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  argument  displayed  such  amazing  resources 
of  learning,  and  such  critical  acumen,  as  raised  him  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  fame  as  a  classical  scholar  and  a  critic. 

Two  other  works  of  Bentley's  which  also  gained  him  great  applause, 
and  for  which  his  critical  learning  and  abilities  were  well  adapted,  were 
his  Editions  of  Horace  and  Terence.  He  began  also  a  new  critical  edi- 
tion of  Homer,  but  did  not  live  to  complete  it.  His  design  was  to  re- 
store to  the  text  the  old  Greek  Digamma,  a  letter  which  has  been  dropped 
in  all  modern  editions  of  the  poet.  Bentley  was  the  most  skilful  of  all 
critics  in  the  matter  of  conjectural  emendation.  He  was  bold  even  to 
audacity  in  this  respect,  and  yet  his  most  important  emendations  have 
stood  the  test  of  scrutiny,  and  have  for  the  most  part  become  a  part  of 
the  received  text  of  the  autliors  so  amended. 

Boyle. 

Hon.  Charles  Boyle,  1676-1731,  Earl  of  Orrery,  and  nephew  of  the 
celebrated  philosopher,  Robert  Boyle,  was  himself  a  man  of  distin- 
guished abilities,  and  was  held  in  high  estimation  by  the  dignitaries  at 
Oxford,  and  by  Swift,  Atterbury,  Pope,  and  others.  Boyle  published 
an  edition  of  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris,  and  in  an  evil  hour  was  tempted 
into  a  controversy  witli  Bentley,  in  regard  to  their  authenticity.  At- 
terbury helped  him  in  his  defence,  writing,  it  is  supposed,  the  greater 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPOKARIES.  97 

part  of  it,  and  all  of  that  set  joined  in  the  hue  and  cry  against  the 
merciless  critic.  But  jibes  and  sarcasms  were  no  protection  against 
the  "swashing  blows"  delivered  by  Bentley. 

Conyers  Middleton. 

Conyers  Middleton,  1683-1750,  was  a  voluminous  writer,  belonging 
to  what  may  be  called  the  quarrelsome  class.  Most  of  his  writings 
have  passed  into  oblivion  with  the  personal  squabbles  in  which  they 
originated.  His  only  work  of  permanent  value  was  his  Life  of  Cicero, 
which  was,  until  the  appearance  of  Forsyth's  Cicero,  the  standard 
work  upon  the  subject.  Middleton's  Cicero  is  an  able  and  well-written 
biography,  although  open  to  criticism.  The  style  is  easy  and  vigorous, 
but  disfigured  here  and  there  by  the  use  of  slang  phrases.  The  chief 
objection  to  the  conception  of  the  work  is  that  it  extols  Cicero  unduly. 

De  Foe. 

Daniel  De  Foe,  1661-1731,  was  the  author  of  the  world-renowned 
Eobinson  Crusoe. 

De  Foe  was  the  son  of  a  butcher,  James  Foe,  the  prefix  being  as- 
sumed by  Daniel.  He  was  educated  among  the  dissenters,  and  was 
expected  to  become  a  minister,  but  he  did  not  carry  out  the  plans  of 
his  friends.  He  was  for  a  time  a  soldier ;  he  was  a  political  negotia- 
tor ;  he  engaged  in  several  kinds  of  trade.  But  his  chief  occupation 
was  that  of  authorship.  The  amount  that  he  wrote  was  enormous. 
The  complete  edition  of  his  works,  by  Walter  Scott,  was  in  20  vols., 
12mo.  A  large  part  of  his  writings  was  on  political  subjects.  He 
entered  freely  into  the  discussion  of  public  affairs,  and  not  always 
on  the  winning  side.  His  works  number  more  than  two  hundred ;  all 
of  them  were  on  subjects  of  popular  interest,  and  were  at  the  time 
much  read.  He  is  now  known,  however,  almost  exclusively  as  a  nov- 
elist, and  most  of  all  by  his  one  novel,  the  Adventures  of  Eobinson 
Crusoe. 

Wollaston. 

William  Wollaston,  1659-1724,  a  clergyman  of  leisure,  educated  at 
Cambridge,  published  in  1722  a  work  called  The  Eeligion  of  Nature, 
which  was  much  read,  and  is  often  quoted  in  religious  and  philosoph- 
ical treatises  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  it  he  maintains  that  Truth 
is  the  supreme  good,  and  the  source  of  all  morality,  laying  down,  as  a 
foundation  of  his  argument,  that  every  action  is  a  good  one  which  ex- 
presses in  act  a  true  proposition. 

9  G 


98  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Hutchinson. 

John  Hutchinson,  1674-1737,  was  the  founder  of  the  Hutchinsonian 
school  of  interpretation.  The  pivotal  idea  of  his  system  was  that  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  contain  the  elements  of  science  and  philosophy  as 
well  as  of  religion,  and  that  science  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  Bible. 

Huteheson. 

Francis  Huteheson,  1649-1747,  was  a  metaphysical  writer  of  con- 
siderable celebrity.  He  was  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the 
University  of  Dublin.  His  writings  on  metaphysical  science,  though 
not  numerous,  exerted  a  large  influence  by  their  originality  and  the 
clearness  and  beauty  with  which  his  thoughts  were  presented.  He  is 
even  sometimes  considered  as  the  founder  of  the  modern  Scottish 
school  of  philosophy.  The  doctrine  which  he  particularly  advocated 
was  the  existence  of  an  innate  moral  sense. 

Hartley. 

David  Hartley,  M.  D.,  1705-1757,  was  a  writer  of  some  note  on 
metaphysical  science.  He  is  the  author  of  several  medical  treatises, 
but  is  best  known  by  his  Theory  of  the  HumWi  Mind.  This  theory 
regards  the  brain,  nerves,  and  spinal  chord  as  the  direct  instruments 
of  sensation,  by  means  of  vibrations  communicated  to  and  through  them 
by  external  objects. 

^A^histon. 

William  Whiston,  1667-1752,  notorious  in  his  own  day  for  his  theo- 
logical heresies,  and  the  persecution  and  controversy  to  which  they 
gave  rise,  is  now  chiefly  known  for  his  translation  of  Josephus. 

Bailey. 

Nathan  Bailey, 1742,  was  author  of  the  English  Dictionary 

which  was  in  current  use  previous  to  that  of  Dr.  Johnson.  Bailey's 
Dictionary  was  published  in  folio  and  in  various  other  forms,  and  was 
for  a  long  time  almost  the  only  acknowledged  standard  of  the  language, 
Mr.  Bailey  was  a  good  philologist  for  that  day,  and  his  work  was  a 
worthy  contribution  to  the  cause  of  letters. 

Ephraim  Chambers. 

Ephraim  Chambers, 1740,  was  the  author  of  Chambers's  Cyclo- 
paedia.   Chambers  began  as  an  apprentice  with  Mr.  Senex,  a  globe- 


POPE   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORAEIES.  99 

maker  in  London.  Acquiring,  while  in  this  business,  a  strong  taste 
for  scientific  pursuits,  he  withdrew  from  the  work  of  globemaking,  and 
gave  himself  up  entirely  to  the  preparation  of  his  Cyclopaedia.  It  was 
published  by  subscription,  in  2  vols.,  fol.,  and  had  a  large  sale,  bringing 
the  author  both  money  and  fame.  The  work  was  enlarged  from  time 
to  time,  and  finally  led  to,  or  was  merged  in,  Kees's  Cyclopaedia,  45 
vols.,  4to. 

IV.     THEOLOGICAL   ^ATRITERS. 

Butler. 

Joseph  Butler,  D.  D.,  1692-1752,  a  learned  Bishop  of  the  English 
Church,  wrote  several  important  works,  but  the  others  are  thrown  into 
the  shade  by  that  one  with  which  the  world  is  familiar.  The  Analogy 
of  Keligion,  Natural  and  Eevealed,  to  the  Constitution  and  Course  of 
Nature. 

Butlei^s  Analogy  has  been  accepted  almost  universally  as  a  standard 
work  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  it  is  used  as  a  text-book  in 
a  large  proportion  of  the  higher  institutions  of  learning.  The  distinc- 
tion which  it  has  gained  is  due,  however,  more  to  the  soundness  of  the 
argument  than  to  the  lucid  or  attractive  style  in  which  the  argument 
is  presented.  It  has  been  alleged,  indeed,  that  the  difiiculty  referred 
to  is  owing  entirely  to  the  abstruse  character  of  the  subjects  discussed. 
But  this  is  a  mistake.  His  style  is  not  to  be  commended  or  imitated. 
He  is  dry,  obscure,  and  dull,  where  Locke,  Berkeley,  or  Brown  would 
have  been  vivacious  and  lucid. 

Leslie. 

Charles  Leslie,  1650-1722,  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  a  graduate  of 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  ordained  in  the  English  Church,  but  being 
a  strong  Jacobite,  and  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  he  applied  himself  to  the  use  of  his  pen  only.  His 
Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Deists  has  acquired  great  celebrity, 
and  is  always  quoted  in  lists  of  works  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 

Staekhouse. 

Thomas  Staekhouse,  1680-1752,  a  theologian  of  the  English  Church, 
is  well  known  for  his  Complete  Body  of  Divinity,  published  originally 
in  folio,  and  for  his  History  of  the  Bible,  published  originally  in  2 
vols.,  folio. 


100  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Doddridge. 

Philip  Doddridge,  1702-1751,  was  a  Dissenting  minister  of  great 
repute  among  all  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church.  His  collected 
works  fill  19  vols.,  8vo.  The  works  best  known  are :  The  Family 
Expositor,  which  occupies  6  vols,  in  the  collected  edition  here  men- 
tioned, and  The  Eise  and  Progress  of  Eeligion  in  the  Soul.  The 
Family  Expositor  has  been  extremely  popular,  and  it  is  still  used  to 
some  extent.  The  author  seems  to  have  had  an  instinctive  sagacity 
in  knowing  just  what  was  needed  in  such  a  work,  to  fit  it  for  family 
use.  The  Eise  and  Progress  has  long  since  become  a  classic  in  the 
list  of  books  on  religious  experience.  Doddridge  wrote  also  some 
very  excellent  Hymns,  which  have  found  their  way  into  the  hymnals 
of  most  Protestant  churches. 

Leland. 

John  Leland,  D.  D.,  1691-1766,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  settled  in 
Dublin,  is  distinguished  as  a  writer  of  apologetics.  Some  of  his  works 
in  defence  of  Christianity  are  considered  as  among  the  best  that  have 
ever  been  written.  The  one  of  greatest  note  is  A  View  of  the  Deisti- 
cal  Writers,  3  vols.,  8vo. 

Ridgley. 

Thomas  Eidgley,  D.  D.,  1667-1734,  an  Independent  Calvinistic  di- 
vine, is  chiefly  known  by  his  work,  A  Body  of  Divinity,  being  the 
substance  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  The  Assembly's  Larger  Cate- 
chism. This  work,  published  originally  in  1733,  is  still  in  current 
use,  and  is  a  standard  work  on  theology  among  Presbyterians,  and 
indeed  among  all  Calvinists. 

Neal. 

Daniel  Neal,  1678-1743,  a  Dissenting  minister,  is  known  almost 
exclusively  by  his  History  of  the  Puritans,  4  vols.,  8vo.  This  is  the 
story  of  the  Non-conformists,  as  seen  and  told  by  themselves ;  and  it 
is  usually  applauded  or  condemned,  according  as  the  judge  is  a  dis- 
senter or  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  There  is  no  question, 
however,  of  its  being  a  work  of  ability  and  research. 

Boston. 

Eev.  Thomas  Boston,  1676-1732,  was  a  Scotch  preacher  of  great 
note,  whose  Fourfold  State  used  to  be  one  of  the  household  treasures 
in  almost  every  religious  family. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Dr.  Johnson  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(1740-1780.) 

After  the  death  of  Pope,  1744,  the  person  who  for  the  next  forty 
years  figured  most  largely  in  literature  was  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson.  The 
time  of  Johnson's  supremacy  covers,  in  round  numbers,  the  first  twen- 
ty-five years  of  the  reign  of  George  III.,  1760-1785.  It  includes 
among  its  political  events  the  celebrated  trial  of  Warren  Hastings, 
and  the  still  more  important  issue,  the  American  Revolutionary  War. 

The  writers  who  belong  to  this  period  are  divided  into  four  sections : 
1.  Miscellaneous  Prose  Writers,  beginning  with  Dr.  Johnson ;  2.  Nov- 
elists, beginning  with  Richardson;  3.  Poets,  beginning  with  Gold- 
smith ;  4.  Theological  Writers,  beginning  with  Warburton. 

I.    MISCELLANEOUS  PROSE  WRITERS. 

Dr.  Johnson. 

Samuel  Johnson,  LL.  D.,  1709-1784,  was  for  nearly  an  entire  gen- 
eration the  acknowledged  autocrat  of  English  letters.  He  was  the 
centre  of  attraction  for  such  men  as  Goldsmith,  Burke,  Fox,  Sheridan, 
Garrick,  Reynolds,  and  Gibbon ;  his  presence  and  conversation  were 
everywhere  courted  as  though  he  had  been  the  great  Mogul  of  literary 
opinion. 

Dr.  Johnson  was  born  at  Lichfield,  the  son  of  a  bookseller.  He 
was  afflicted  from  boyhood  with  scrofula,  which  weakened  his  eye- 
sight and  otherwise  indisposed  him  to  bodily  exertion.  Notwith- 
standing these  obstacles,  he  was,  on  his  admission  to  the  University, 
9  *  101 


1G2  F.NGLISH    LITERATURE. 

iincommoi^ly  well  versed  in  the  preparatory  studies.  After  remaining 
tii.'ce  ycni-s  at  Oxfo^ti;, b(j  'left  for  want  of  means  to  continue  his  resi- 
dence, and  did  not  take  his  degree.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he 
was  married  to  a  widow  nearly  twice  his  age,  with  vulgar  manners,  a 
loud  voice,  and  a  florid  complexion.  They  seem,  however,  to  have 
lived  hapi)ily  together,  and  on  her  death,  sixteen  years  afterwards,  he 
mourned  her  loss  to  a  degree  that  for  some  years  unfitted  him  for  lit- 
erary labor.  She  brought  him  a  fortune  of  £800,  and  with  this  he 
attempted  to  set  up  an  Academy.  He  obtained,  however,  only  three 
pupils,  one  of  them  the  celebrated  Garrick.  The  Academy  failing, 
Johnson  determined  to  go  to  London  and  enter  upon  a  life  of  author- 
ship.    Garrick  went  with  him  to  seek  fame  and  fortune  as  an  actor. 

The  first  few  years  of  Johnson's  life  in  London  were  miserable 
enough.  He  often  suffered  from  actual  hunger,  and  at  times  he  and 
the  poet  Savage  walked  the  streets  together  at  night,  because  too  poor 
to  pay  for  lodgings.  The  first  work  of  his  which  brought  him  into 
note  was  London,  a  Satire,  in  imitation  of  Juvenal.  There  were  in 
this  short  piece  a  vigor  of  thought  and  a  polish  of  expression,  that 
marked  the  author  as  a  man  of  no  common  order.  Pope,  then  in  his 
meridian,  recognized  at  once  the  unknown  author  as  a  dangerous  com- 
petitor, yet  had  the  generosity  to  help  to  bring  him  into  notice  and 
favor.  Johnson's  fortunes  after  this  gradually  improved.  He  found 
employment  for  his  pen  in  a  variety  of  literary  enterprises,  so  that  he 
was  no  longer  in  actual  want,  and  in  1762,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  he 
received  from  King  George  III.  the  grant  of  an.  annual  pension  of 
£300.  His  last  days  were  spent  in  comparative  ease  and  comfort. 
He  became  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  men  rarely  equalled  for  brilliancy 
and  genius;  he  was  honored  with  titles  from  the  Universities;  his 
voice  was  everywhere  listened  to  as  that  of  the  greatest  literary  mag- 
nate of  the  realm. 

His  principal  works  are  the  following :  London,  a  Satire,  already 
mentioned ;  The  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  his  only  other  poem  of 
note ;  Irene,  a  Tragedy,  generally  admitted  to  be  a  failure ;  Easselas, 
or  The  Happy  Valley,  a  story  with  little  incident,  but  embellished 
with  a  sonorous  and  flowing  eloquence;  The  Kambler,  of  which  he 
wrote  204  out  of  the  208  numbers;  The  Idler,  another  series  of 
essays  of  a  like  character ;  The  Lives  of  the  Poets,  filling  many  vol- 
umes ;  A  Journey  to  the  Hebrides ;  An  Edition  of  Shakespeare,  with 
Preface  and  Notes ;  and  lastly,  a  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language. 

Johnson's  merits  as  a  lexicographer  are  of  a  mingled  character. 
He  was  not  a  linguist ;  he  knew  nothing  of  the  science  of  language, 
and  next  to  nothing  of  the  requirements  of  lexicography,  as  now 


JOHXSON   AND    HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       103 

understood.  Yet,  in  the  preparation  of  his  English  Dictionary,  he 
achieved  a  great  and  lasting  work,  the  most  important  single  contri- 
bution to  English  letters  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  The  collection 
of  examples  which  he  made  from  his  own  reading  and  research,  in 
illustration  of  the  meaning  of  the  words,  and  the  surpassing  clearness 
with  which  in  most  cases  he  expressed  the  meaning  in  his  definitions, 
have  won  the  admiration  of  all  competent  judges,  and  have  made  his 
work  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  efibrts  in  the  same  line. 

As  an  Essayist,  Johnson  lacks  the  grace  and  simplicity  and  exqui- 
site humor  which  were  the  peculiar  charm  of  Addison  ;  yet  he  was  a 
fearless  advocate  of  morals  and  religion,  when  it  was  the  fashion 
among  men  of  wit  to  decry  them  both ;  and  he  undoubtedly,  by  his 
courage  in  this  matter,  and  by  the  masculine  force  of  his  understand- 
ing, gave  a  tone  to  the  public  mind  on  this  subject,  the  effects  of  which 
have  been  felt  ever  since. 

His  critical  judgments  are  to  be  received  with  caution.  He  was  a 
man  of  violent  prejudices,  an  ultra  Tory  in  politics,  and,  as  such, 
opposed  to  republicanism  in  every  shape.  He  was  not  only  bitter 
against  the  Americans,  but  he  did  scant  justice  to  Milton,  as  the  poet 
of  the  Commonwealth.  His  judgments,  indeed,  in  matters  of  poetry, 
are  the  least  valuable  of  his  opinions.  He  could  appreciate  didactic 
or  satiric  poetry,  like  his  own,  or  like  that  of  Dryden,  but  he  would 
have  been  as  incompetent  to  feel  the  finer  beauties  of  Tennyson,  as  he 
was  to  feel  those  of  Shakespeare.  His  edition  of  Shakespeare,  indeed, 
except  portions  of  the  Preface,  was  an  utter  failure.  His  Lives  of  the 
Poets,  however,  contains  some  of  the  best  things  he  has  written,  and 
the  work,  with  all  its  acknowledged  shortcomings,  is  a  valuable  part 
of  the  permanent  literature  of  the  language. 

In  enumerating  the  works  of  Johnson,  Boswell's  Biography  of  him 
should  always  be  included.  That  biography  consists  mainly  of  the 
sayings  of  Johnson,  as  recorded  by  Boswell  from  day  to  day,  and  these 
sayings  are  probably  a  better  exponent  of  Johnson's  mind  than  any  of 
his  own  writings.  When  he  put  pen  to  paper,  his  mind  was  at  once 
on  stilts,  and  he  gave  utterance  to  his  thoughts  according  to  the  false 
ideas  of  style  which  he  had  formed.  But  in  his  table-talk,  he  was 
idiomatic  and  simple,  and  his  thoughts  came  with  a  directness  that 
added  to  their  native  force. 

Burke. 

Edmund  Burke,  1728-1797,  was  a  man  of  commanding  abilities, 
and  one  of  the  leading  writers  and  statesmen  of  his  age.  He  was  a 
native  of  Dublin,  and  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College  of  that  city. 


104  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Burke's  first  publication  of  any  note  was  The  Vindication  of  Nat- 
ural Society,  by  a  Late  Noble  Writer.  It  was  written  in  imitation  of 
Bolingbroke,  and  published  anonymously.  "  It  was  the  most  perfect 
specimen  the  world  has  ever  seen  of  the  art  of  imitating  the  style  and 
manner  of  another.  He  went  beyond  the  mere  choice  of  words,  the 
structure  of  sentences,  and  the  cast  of  imagery,  into  the  deepest  re- 
cesses of  thought ;  and  so  completely  had  he  imbued  himself  with  the 
spirit  of  Bolingbroke,  that  he  brought  out  precisely  what  every  one 
sees  his  lordship  ought  to  have  said  on  his  own  principles,  and  might 
be  expected  to  say,  if  he  had  dared  to  express  his  sentiments."  The 
effect  was  the  more  remarkable,  because  in  the  opinion  of  all  the  emi- 
nent critics  of  that  day,  both  friends  and  foes,  Bolingbroke's  style  was 
"not  only  the  best  of  that  day,  but  in  itself  wholly  inimitable."  Yet 
the  critics  were  completely  taken  in.  The  essay  was  accepted  almost 
universally  as  a  posthumous  work  of  Bolingbroke's.  Johnson,  Ches- 
terfield, and  even  Warburton  pronounced  it  genuine. 

In  the  course  of  the  same  year  (1756,  set.  28),  Burke  published  his 
celebrated  work,  A  Philosophical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas 
of  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  which  has  become  an  acknowledged 
English  classic,  as  much  so  as  any  writing  of  Aristotle  is  classical  in 
Greek.  The  publication  of  this  work  brought  the  author  at  once  into 
public  notice,  and  led  to  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  Johnson, 
Eeynolds,  and  other  celebrities. 

In  1766,  Burke  entered  Parliament,  and  for  the  next  twenty  years 
his  pen  and  his  tongue  were  occupied  mainly  with  affairs  of  state. 
The  most  beautiful  and  eloquent  of  all  his  productions  was  called  out 
by  the  excesses  and  the  frenzy  of  the  French  republicans,  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  monarchy.  His  own  party  was  in  sympathy  with 
the  revolutionists  in  France.  But  Burke  became  alarmed  at  the 
lengths  to  which  they  were  going,  and  in  1790  he  gave  utterance  to 
his  feelings  in  the  work  just  referred  to,  Keflections  on  the  Revolution 
in  France.  On  no  one  of  his  works  did  he  bestow  such  care.  The 
effect  of  the  publication  was  prodigious,  not  only  in  England,  but 
throughout  Europe ;  and  honors  and  emoluments  were  showered  upon 
the  author  from  every  quarter. 

The  greatest  work  of  Burke's  public  life  was  his  Impeachment  of 
Warren  Hastings.  Unfortunately,  his  speech  on  this  occasion  was 
not  written  out  by  the  author.  The  traditions  of  it  that  remain,  how- 
ever, leave  little  doubt  that  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  efforts  of  parlia- 
mentary eloquence  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

Burke  was  offered  a  peerage.  Having  just  lost  his  only  surviving 
son,  he  declined  the  barren  honor ;  and  in  A  Letter  to  a  Noble  Lord, 


JOHNSON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       105 

written  soon  after,  he  gives  expression  to  his  feeling  of  loneliness  and 
bereavement  in  terms  of  singular  beauty  and  pathos.  Burke's  Par- 
liamentary Speeches  fill  several  volumes,  and  form  an  enduring  mon- 
ument to  his  fame  as  a  great  philosophical  statesman,  while  his  essay 
on  The  Sublime  and  Bccxutiful,  and  his  Keflections  on  the  Revolution 
in  France,  challenge  to  themselves  a  foremost  place  among  the  great 
English  classics. 

Chesterfield. 

Philip  Dormer  Stanhope,  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  1694-1773,  "the 
philosopher  of  flattery  and  dissimulation,"  occupied  a  conspicuous 
position  in  society  ancrtn  affairs  of  state,  and  was  ambitious  of  equal 
distinction  in  the  world  of  letters.  Chesterfield's  Speeches  in  Parlia- 
ment were  often  of  a  high  order  of  eloquence.  His  claim  to  a  per- 
manent place  in  literature,  however,  rests  almost  entirely  upon  his 
Letters  to  his  Son.  These  are  graceful  and  elegant  compositions,  but 
are  noted  for  the  worldly,  selfish,  and  even  at  times  immoral  character 
of  the  advice  given. 

Junius  — Sir  Philip  Francis. 

Sir  Philip  Francis,  1740-1818,  was  an  accomplished  political  writer, 
contemporary  with  Burke,  Fox,  and  Pitt. 

Sir  Philip  took  an  active  part  in  the  famous  trial  of  Warren  Hastings, 
and  was  conspicuous  as  a  statesman  and  a  member  of  Parliament.  The 
conjecture  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  Letters  of  Junius,  was  early 
broached,  and  after  much  discussion^was  nearly  abandoned,  notwith- 
standing the  advocacy  of  such  men  as  Macaulay  and  Brougham,  until 
the  year  1871,  when  the  authorship  of  the  Letters  was  put  almost 
beyond  question  by  the  examination  of  the  handwriting  of  Junius 
and  of  Sir  Philip  Francis  by  a  professional  expert. 

The  Letters  of  Junius  appeared  at  intervals  in  the  Public  Adver- 
tiser, of  London,  during  the  years  1769-72.  By  the  boldness  of  their 
invective  and  the  masterly  style  in  which  they  were  written,  they  at- 
tracted universal  attention,  and  they  exerted  a  prodigious  influence 
upon  the  public  mind.  That  influence  was  intensified  by  the  impene- 
trable secrecy  in  which  the  authorship  was  shrouded.  The  writer  was 
evidently  well  acquainted  with  important  state  secrets ;  he  was  one 
whose  abilities  were  of  the  first  order,  and  who  could  not  well  live  in 
obscurity ;  yet  of  all  the  men  eminent  in  letters  and  position,  then 
living,  there  was  not  one  whom  it  seemed  possible  to  associate  with 
the  authorship  of  these  Letters.     Conjectures  pointed  to  one  after 


106  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

another,  but  some  fatal  mark  was  found  that  seemed  to  exclude  each 
in  succession,  until  the  hunt  was  almost  given  up  in  despair.  The 
public  mind  had  well-nigh  settled  down  in  the  conclusion  that  the 
mystery  was  insoluble.  At  length,  in  1871,  a  volume  appeared,  enti- 
tled The  Handwriting  of  Junius  Professionally  Investigated,  by  Mr. 
Charles  Chabot,  an  Expert,  which  seems  to  settle  the  question.  Its 
object  is  to  prove  by  a  minute  and  exhaustive  examination  of  the 
Junian  manuscripts  and  of  the  letters  of  Sir  Philip  Francis,  that  both 
were  written  by  the  same  hand.  The  proof  is  of  the  strongest  kind, 
amounting  almost  to  a  demonstration,  and  will  go  far  to  put  this  vexed 
question  at  rest. 

As  specimens  of  style,  the  Letters  of  Judfflis  are,  in  their  kind, 
absolutely  perfect. 

Hume. 

David  Hume,  1711-1776,  is  universally  known  as  the  author  of  the 
most  popular  History  of  England  yet  written,  and  as  a  writer  of  great 
power  on  subjects  connected  with  political  economy,  morals,  and  reli- 
gion. In  the  works  last  named  he  is  a  thorough-going  infidel,  attack- 
ing Christianity  on  metaphysical  grounds  chiefly.  This  class  of  his 
writings  has  been  of  most  baleful  tendency. 

Hume  was  a  Scotchman,  a  native  of  Edinburgh.  He  abandoned 
business  and  the  study  of  the  law  for  literature ;  was  Secretary  of  the 
French  Embassy,  1763-4;  and  Under-Secretary  of  State,  1767-8.  His 
life  was  uneventful,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  few  years  when  he 
served  in  Government  offices,  was  passed  in  studious  retirement,  chiefly 
in  London. 

Hume's  merits  as  a  historian  are  of  a  mingled  character.  His  his- 
tory has  been,  and  will  contirlue  to  be,  until  superseded  by  a  better,  the 
most  readable  general  work  on  the  English  past.  In  one  respect,  at  least, 
its  merits  are  unquestionable  —  the  pureness  and  grace  of  his  style. 
Gibbon  declares  that  he  always  closed  one  of  Hume's  volumes  "  with 
a  mixed  sensation  of  delight  and  despair."  As  an  investigator  into 
the  facts  and  truths  of  history,  on  the  other  hand,  Hume  is  undoubtedly 
weak  and  untrustworthy  —  not  merely  because  he  wrote  his  work  from 
the  point  of  view  of  one  political  party  (the  Tory),  or  that  he  is  guilty 
of  many  inaccuracies ;  but  because,  as  is  evident  from  the  time  spent 
in  its  composition,  and  from  outside  evidence  as  to  Hume's  mode  of 
study  and  composition,  the  writer  w^as  superficial  and  careless. 

The  influence  oi"  liis  Philosophical  Opinions  has  been  baneful  in  the 
extreme.  His  i)osition,  as  before  remarked,  is  tliat  of  a  thorough-going 
infidel.    His  "Essay  on  Miracles,"  the  most  celebrated  of  all  his 


JOHNSON  AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       107 

philosophical  writings,  is  still,  in  one  form  or  another,  the  battle- 
ground between  believer  and  unbeliever.  By  reason  of  the  vigor  and 
grace  of  its  style,  it  has  always  been  the  most  formidable  engine  of  at- 
tack upon  Christianity.  Hume  was  not  merely  a  metaphysical  thinker, 
however.  His  politico-economical  essays  are  masterpieces  of  clear 
thinking  applied  to  practical  subjects.  They  have  been  highly  praised 
by  subsequent  leaders  in  the  science,  and  may  be  considered  as  the 
forerunner,  and  in  methodical  arrangement  the  superior,  of  Adam 
Smith's  celebrated  dissertation. 

--Gibbon. 

Edward  Gibbon,  1737-1794,  by  his  great  work,  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Koman  Empire,  created  for  himself  a  permanent  place  in  liter- 
ature. The  Decline  and  Fall  is  universally  acknowledged  to  be  one 
of  the  greatest  masterpieces  of  historical  composition,  —  having  the 
artistic  finish  of  the  classic  models  and  the  exhaustive  learning  and 
research  of  modem  history.  It  is  subject,  however,  to  one  great  blot. 
The  author's  prejudices  against  Christianity  warped  his  judgment 
whenever  that  subject  was  introduced. 

Gibbon  wrote  some  other  works  besides  the  Decline  and  Fall,  but 
the  only  one  of  them  of  any  note  was  his  Autobiography,  written  to 
amuse  his  leisure  hours,  after  his  great  work  was  off  his  hands  and  he 
had  become  famous.  It  is  considered  one  of  the  happiest  efibrts  in 
that  line  of  composition. 

Robertson. 

William  Kobertson,  1721-1793,  is  another  of  the  great  historians  of 
this  period,  —  Hume,  Gibbon,  and  Robertson  constituting  an  illus- 
trious trio,  whose  names  always  go  together,  although  both  their  works 
and  they  themselves  are  quite  unlike.  Robertson's  chief  works  were 
A  History  of  Scotland,  A  History  of  America,  and  A  History  of 
Charles  V. 

Karnes.  ** 

Henry  Home,  Lord  Karnes,  1696-1782,  has  acquired  deserved  celeb- 
rity by  his  essay  on  the  Elements  of  Criticism,  which  has  a  permanent 
value,  and  is  one  of  the  standard  works  on  that  subject.  "The  Ele- 
ments of  Criticism,  considered  as  the  first  systematical  attempt  to  in- 
vestigate the  metaphysical  principles  of  the  fine  arts,  possesses,  in 
spite  of  its  numerous  defects,  both  in  point  of  taste  and  of  philosophy, 
infinite  merits,  and  will  ever  be  regarded  as  a  literary  wonder  by  those 
who  know  how  small  a  portion  of  his  time  it  was  possible  for  the 


108  ENGLISH    LITERATUEE. 

author  to  allot  to  the  composition  of  it,  amidst  the  imperious  and 
multifarious  duties  of  a  most  active  and  useful  life." — Dugald  Stewart. 

James  Harris,  1709-1780,  is  known  as  the  author  of  Hermes,  an 
Ingenious  work  on  Language  and  Grammar. 

Ty^^vhitt. 

Thomas  Tyrwhitt,  1730-1786,  a  distinguished  critic  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, has  secured  for  himself  a  permanent  place  in  English  literature 
by  his  valuable  labors  in  the  elucidation  of  Chaucer.  Tyrwhitt's  edi- 
tion of  the  Canterbury  Tales,  1775-78,  was  the  first  serious  and  cred- 
itable attempt  to  rescue  any  part  of  the  text  of  Chaucer  from  the 
shockingly  corrupt  state  in  which  it  had  appeared  in  the  earlier  edi- 
tions. Nothing  is  more  disgraceiul  to  English  scholarship  than  the 
long-continued  neglect  on  this  subject;  the  greatest  poet  in  the  lan- 
guage, before  Shakespeare,  remaining  for  four  centuries  almost  unin- 
telligible for  want  of  proper  editing.  Tyrwhitt,  by  his  edition  of  the 
Canterbury  Tales,  did  an  immense  service,  by  showing  what  a  mine 
of  wealth  here  lay  hidden.  The  vein  tlius  opened  has  been  followed 
up  by  other  explorers.  But  we  still  lack  a  really  good  text  of  Eng- 
land's first  great  poet. 

Lord  Lyttelton. 

Lord  George  Lyttelton,  1708-1773,  is  the  author  of  an  ingenious 
essay,  of  permanent  value,  on  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  proving 
from  it  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity.  Lyttelton  was  educated  at 
Eton  and  Oxford,  and  entered  Parliament  with  prospects  of  a  brilliant 
career.  After  a  brief  experience  of  political  life,  however,  he  re- 
signed his  office,  that  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  retired  to 
private  life,  employing  his  leisure  in  literary  pursuits.  His  Observa- 
tions on  the  Conversion  and  Apostleship  of  St.  Paul  is  still  regarded 
as  a  masterpiece  in  its  way.  This  beautiful  monograph  is  an  ingeni- 
ous and  unanswerable  argument  for  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity. 
Dialogues  of  tlie  Dead  was  another  work  on  which  Lyttelton  ex- 
pended much  labor.  It  shows  learning  and  study,  and  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  historical  characters  introduced,  but  is  now  gen- 
erally considered  dull  and  prolix, 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Carter. 

Elizabeth  Carter,  1717-1806,  known  in  her  later  days  as  Mrs.  Carter, 
as  was  the  castom  in  England  with  single  ladies  after  reaching  a  ma- 


MISCELLANEOUS    PROSE    WRITERS  109 

tronly  age,  was  celebrated  for  her  classical  scholarship.  She  received 
from  her  father,  who  was  a  clergyman,  a  thorough  training  in  the 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  she  made  herself  familiar  with 
Italian,  German,  French,  and  Spanish.  The  work  which  gained  her 
most  eclat  was  a  translation  of  Epictetus,  which,  in  Warton's  opinion, 
"  exceeds  the  original." 

Lady  Mary  Montagu. 

Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  1690-1762,  is  connected  about  equally 
with  tlie  age  of  Pope  and  that  of  Dr.  Johnson.  She  fills  a  consider- 
able space  in  the  history  of  the  times,  by  the  distinguished  part  which 
she  played  in  social  and  diplomatic  circles,  by  her  intelligent  and 
philanthropic  eiForts  in  the  matter  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox, 
and  by  her  Letters,  which  have  become  a  valuable  part  of  literary 
history.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Kingston.  Her  hus- 
band being  appointed  ambassador  to  Turkey,  Lady  Mary  accompanied 
him,  and  wrote  to  her  friends  at  home  a  series  of  Letters,  which  were 
surreptitiously  published  in  1763,  and  permanently  established  the 
writer's  fame.  As  specimens  of  epistolary  style  they  are  among  the 
best  in  English  literature.  She  was  the  means  of  introducing  into 
England  the  Turkish  practice  of  inoculation  for  small-pox,  boldly 
subjecting  her  own  children  to  the  then  dreaded  operation.  It  was 
not  until  Jenner  introduced  the  still  better  system  of  vaccination  that 
her  benefaction  was  superseded. 

Elizabeth  Montagu. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Montagu,  1720-1800,  belongs  almost  equally  to  the 
age  of  Dr.  Johnson  and  to  that  of  Cowper.  She  was  by  marriage 
cousin  of  the  celebrated  Lady  Mary  Montagu.  Mrs.  Montagu's  hus- 
band died,  leaving  her  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  large  fortune.  Her 
house  became  the  centre  of  literature  and  fashion.  Her  soirees  were 
thronged  with  all  the  literary  notabilities  of  the  day.  Mrs.  Montagu 
herself  was  noted  for  her  conversational  powers,  but  she  produced 
little  in  the  way  of  authorship.  The  Letters  of  Mrs.  Montagu,  in  two 
parts,  were  published  after  her  death.  They  are  lively,  "gossipy" 
effusions,  and  form  a  part  of  the  literary  history  of  the  times. 
10 


'^ 


110  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 


II.    THE    NOVELISTS. 

Richardson. 

Samuel  Eichardson,  1689-1767,  came  before  the  public  a  little  earlier 
than  his  great  rival,  Fielding,  and  is  sometimes  called  the  father  of  the 
English  Novel.  But  this  epithet  belongs  more  properly  to  the  latter 
writer.  Richardson's  three  novels,  however,  Pamela,  Clarissa  Harlowe, 
and  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  are  among  the  memorable  works  of  the 
age,  and  ensure  to  their  author  a  permanent  place  in  English  literature. 

Richardson  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and  he  succeeded  in  gaining  for 
himself  a  competency  long  before  he  ever  thought  of  turning  his  atten- 
tion to  writing.  As  a  boy  he  evinced  a  fondness  for  reading,  and  skill 
in  the  use  of  the  pen,  so  that  the  young  women  of  the  village  frequently 
employed  him  to  write  their  love-letters.  In  this  way  Richardson  laid 
the  foundations  for  that  knowledge  of  woman's  heart  and  woman's  ways, 
which  afterwards  stood  him  in  such  good  stead.  Indeed,  he  seems  to 
have  been,  throughout  life,  a  chatty,  not  to  say  gossipy,  soul,  and  never 
so  much  at  home  as  when  the  centre  of  a  small  circle  of  kind-hearted 
if  not  particularly  strong-headed  female  admirers. 

In  judging  Richardson's  merits  we  must  take  into  account  the  age  in 
which  he  lived  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he  wrote.  Before 
him  there  had  been  no  novel ;  nothing  but  romances  in  imitation  of  the 
French,  where  the  loves  of  princes  and  princesses  were  narrated  in  very 
vaporous  and  stilted  language.  Richardson  brought  the  scene  from  the 
moonshine  down  to  the  earth,  and  was  the  first  to  give  a  real  episode 
from  English  life,  with  real  English  men  and  women  for  actors. 

Fielding. 

Henry  Fielding,  1707-1754,  may  be  considered  as  the  true  father  of 
the  English  Novel.  There  were  other  writers  of  fiction  before  him,  as 
there  were  other  poets  before  Chaucer.  But  Fielding  first  showed  by 
example  the  great  resources  and  power  of  this  species  of  literature, 
not  only  as  a  delineator  of  manners,  but  as  a  moral  influence  in  society. 

Fielding  did  a  good  many  other  things,  and  wrote  many  other  works, 
among  them  no  less  than  twenty-five  Comedies ;  but  his  three  great 
Novels,  Joseph  Andrews,  Tom  Jones,  and  Amelia,  so  far  overtop  all 
else  that  he  did  or  wrote,  that  it  scarcely  deserves  to  be  mentioned  in 
the  comparison.  As  an  artist,  in  the  delineation  of  human  nature,  it 
is  conceded  on  all  hands  that  Fielding  has  never  been  surpassed  by 
any  writer  of  English  fiction.     Yet  there  is  a  coarseness  in  his  scenes, 


JOHNSON  AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.      Ill 

and  often  in  his  language,  that  makes  a  sad  drawback  to  the  pleasure 
of  reading  him, 

Smollett. 

Tobias  George  Smollett,  1721-1771,  is  permanently  associated  in' 
fame  with  Kichardson  and  Fielding.  His  three  novels,  Roderick  Ean- 
dom,  Peregrine  Pickle,  and  Humphrey  Clinker,  if  not  equal  to  the 
three  great  novels  of  Fielding,  are  superior  to  the  three  of  Eichardson, 
and  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  literature  of  the  age. 

Sterne. 

Laurence  Sterne,  1713-1768,  is  celebrated  as  a  humorist  and  senti- 
mentalist. His  two  chief  works,  Tristram  Shandy  and  the  Sentimental 
Journey,  are  among  the  best  known  of  all  the  works  of  this  period. 


III.    THE    POETS. 

Goldsmith. 

Oliver  Goldsmith,  1728-1774,  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  orna- 
ments of  the  period  now  under  consideration.  He  excelled  about 
equally  in  poetry  and  prose.  Of  the  vast  mass  of  his  prose  writings, 
however,  the  greater  part  has  ceased  to  be  of  interest.  The  only  one, 
in  fact,  that  is  now  generally  read  is  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield.  But 
his  poems,  though  inconsiderable  in  amount,  have  a  perpetual  cliarm. 
There  are,  indeed,  few  poems  in  the  language  that  have  a  better  pros- 
pect of  a  permanent  place  in  its  literature  than  the  Deserted  Village. 

Goldsmith  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of  the 
Established  Church.  In  boyhood  he  had  the  small-pox,  by  which  his 
face  was  permanently  disfigured.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  through  the 
liberality  of  a  kind-hearted  uncle.  Goldsmith  entered  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  Here  he  gained  few  distinctions,  his  habits  of  study,  like  all 
his  other  habits,  being  wrecked  by  improvidence.  Mortified  by  an 
indignity  put  upon  him  by  his  tutor,  Goldsmith  left  College,  but 
lingered  in  Dublin  until  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  destitution.  His 
last  shilling  and  most  of  his  clothing  gone,  hungry  and  half  naked,  he 
set  out  for  Cork,  and  on  the  way  was  saved  from  actual  starvation  by 
a  handful  of  gray  peas  given  him  at  a  wake  by  a  kind-hearted  peasant 
girl.  By  the  kind  interposition  of  his  brother,  Oliver  was  reinstated 
in  College,  and  remained  there  two  years  longer,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  managed  to  take  his  degree.  By  the  persuasion  of  his  uncle, 
Goldsmith  began  studying  for  the  church,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years 


112  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

presented  himself  to  the  Bishop  for  examination,  "but  appearing  in  a 
pair  of  scarlet  breeches,  he  was  rejected."  The  persevering  benefactor, 
his  uncle,  then  procured  him  a  position  as  private  tutor,  but  Oliver 
quarrelled  with  one  of  the  family  over  a  game  of  cards,  and  lost  his 
position.  He  had,  ho\^ever,  at  the  time  of  his  dismissal,  thirty  pounds 
in  cash,  which  seemed  to  him  a  mint  of  money.  But  in  the  course  of 
six  weeks  he  squandered  it  all,  and  returned  to  his  mother  without  a 
shilling  in  his  pocket.  Once  more  the  patient  uncle  conceived  that 
the  young  spendthrift  might  perhaps  succeed  at  the  law,  and  supplied 
him  accordingly  with  fifty  pounds,  wherewith  to  make  a  beginning. 
The  fifty  pounds  were  spent  at  the  gaming-table,  and  Goldsmith  was 
again  at  the  verge  of  ruin.  The  next  experiment  of  Oliver's  friends 
was  to  set  him  up  as  a  Doctor  of  Medicine.  They  put  together  what 
few  guineas  they  could  spare,  and  sent  him  to  Edinburgh.  Here  he 
did  not  entirely  throw  away  his  time,  but  attended  some  lectures 
during  the  eighteen  months  of  his  residence.  He  could,  however,  tell 
a  good  story  and  sing  a  capital  Irish  song,  and  he  shone  accordingly 
in  social  circles  more  than  in  the  halls  of  science. 

A  roving  disposition  impelled  him  to  travel,  and  he  is  next  found 
on  the  continent,  sometimes  at  seats  of  learning,  picking  up  scraps  of 
knowledge  at  the  lectures  of  great  scholars,  but  more  frequently  trav- 
elling througl|  the  country  on  foot,  and  getting  his  meals  and  lodgings 
by  making  himself  agreeable  to  the  peasants  with  his  musical  abilities 
and  his  other  skill  in  tlie  arts  of  entertainment.  Returning  to  England 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight.  Goldsmith  made  his  way  to  London,  only 
to  meet  starvation  in  the  face.  For  the  next  two  or  three  years  his 
struggles  for  the  means  of  bare  subsistence  were  extreme.  He  did  all 
kinds  of  book  work  for  the  publishers,  — whatever  would  bring  a  few 
pounds  or  even  shillings.  By  degrees,  however,  his  merits  became 
known,  and  he  had  ample  occupation,  at  remunerating  prices.  But 
his  habits  of  easy  improvidence  kept  him  always  in  want,  or  in  arrears. 
He  was  among  the  acknowledged  celebrities  of  the  day,  mingling 
freely  and  on  equal  terms  with  the  authors  and  artists  who  revolved 
about  Dr.  Johnson. 

The  following  are  Goldsmith's  principal  works:  The  Deserted 
Village,  the  most  beautiful  of  all  his  poems  ;  The  Traveller,  a  poem 
giving  descriptions  drawn  from  his  wanderings  on  the  Continent ;  the 
exquisite  ballad  of  The  Hermit,  or  the  story  of  Edwin  and  Angelina ; 
Tlfe  Haunch  of  Venison,  a  playful  piece  of  pleasantry,  acknowledging, 
in  graceful  verse,  a  gift  of  venison ;  Retaliation,  a  good-natured  satire, 
in  which  he  paid  off  a  few  of  the  endless  jokes  against  himself  by 
drawing  in  turn  a  caxicature  of  some  of  his  friends ;  two  successful 


JOHNSON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       113 

Comedies,  The  Good-Natured  Man,  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer ;  Pop- 
ular Histories  of  Greece,  Eome,  and  England ;  and  lastly,  A  History 
of  Animated  Nature,  in  8  vols.,  8vo. 

As  an  historian  and  a  writer  on  natural  history,  he  made  no  pre- 
tence to  original  research.  He  was  a  mere  compiler.  But  he  had 
a  wonderful  skill  in  the  art  of  composition ;  and  taking  the  materials 
collected  by  others,  he  worked  them  into  forms  of  grace  and  beauty. 
His  histories  became  text-books,  his  Animated  Nature  had  the  attrac- 
tion of  a  work  of  fiction. 

Gray. 

Thomas  Gray,  1716-1771,  gained  for  himself  the  very  highest  re- 
nown as  a  lyrical  poet  by  his  Elegy  Written  in  a  Country  Churchyard. 
••Gray  was  distinguished  for  the  accuracy  of  his  classical  scholarship, 
and  for  his  varied  learning,  and  he  formed  many  magnificent  projects 
of  works  that  never  saw  the  light.  His  chief  excellence  is  as  a  lyric 
writer,  and  in  this  line  he  stands  among  the  first.  The  Elegy  Written 
in  a  Country  Churchyard  is  one  of  the  poems  of  all  time,  and  is  just 
as  sure  of  immortality  as  anything  written  by  Horace  or  by  Pindar. 
One  familiar  and  remarkable  tribute  to  the  merit  of  this  poem  is  the 
great  number  of  translations  of  it  which  have  been  made  into  the 
various  languages  of  Europe,  ancient  and  modern.  It  has  been  trans- 
lated into  Hebrew,  the  words  and  phrases  being  taken,  as  far  as  possible, 
from  the  classical  idioms  of  the  Old  Testament ;  into  Greek,  7  difierent 
versions ;  into  Latin,  12  versions ;  into  Italian,  12  versions ;  into  French, 
15  versions ;  into  German,  6  versions ;  into  Portuguese. 

His  Ode  on  a  Distant  Prospect  of  Eton  College  is  only  second  to  the 
Elegy  in  popularity.  His  other  lyrical  pieces  are  the  following:  Ode 
on  Spring;  Hymn  to  Adversity;  Ode  to  Vicissitude;  The  Progress 
of  Poesy,  a  Pindaric  Ode ;  The  Bard,  a  Pindaric  Ode.  The  Pindaric 
Odes  have  less  of  the  elements  of  popularity  than  any  of  his  poems. 

Collins. 

William  Collins,  1720-1756,  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  English  lyric 
poets.  What  he  tas  written  is  not  much  in  amount,  but  that  little  is 
of  the  highest  order  of  excellence.  Some  of  his  odes  are  thought  to 
come  as  near  absolute  perfection  as  anything  ever  written.  The  Ode 
on  the  Passions  will  doubtless  live  as  long  as  the  language  itself  in 
which  the  poem  is  written. 

10*  H 


114  ENGLISH    LITERATURE, 

Shenstone. 

William  Shenstone,  1714-1763,  is  favorably  known  by  his  poem, 
The  Schoolmistress,  written  in  the  Spenserian  measure. 

Akenside. 

Mark  Akenside,  M.  D.,  1721-1770,  had  considerable  eminence  in  his 
day  as  a  medical  practitioner  and  a  writer  on  medical  science.  But 
his  chief  distinction  was  won  by  a  poem  on  The  Pleasures  of  the  Im- 
agination, first  published  in  1744. 

Allan  Ramsay. 

Allan  Kamsay,  1685-1758,  was  a  Scotch  poet  of  some  note.  His 
poem,  The  Gentle  Shepherd,  has  been  a  general  favorite.  . 

Young. 

Edward  Young,  1684-1765,  author  of  "The  Night  Thoughts,"  holds 
no  inconsiderable  place  in  English  literature.  "Young's  Night 
Thoughts  "  was  once  almost  as  common  a  book  as  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
and  as  generally  read.  It  is  still  one  of  the  most  popular  works  in 
the  language,  although  open  to  obvious  and  just  criticism.  "  It  cer- 
tainly contains  many  splendid  and  happy  conceptions,  but  their  beauty 
is  thickly  marred  by  false  wit  and  over-labored  antithesis ;  indeed,  his 
whole  ideas  seem  to  have  been  in  a  state  of  antithesis  while  he  com- 
posed the  poem.  One  portion  of  his  fancy  appears  devoted  to  aggra- 
vate the  picture  of  his  desolate  feelings,  and  the  other  half  to  contra- 
dict that  picture  by  eccentric  images  and  epigrammatic  ingenuities." 

Mrs.  Steele. 

Anne  Steele,  1716-1778,  is  one  of  the  sweet  singers  of  the  church. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  a  Baptist  clergyman,  the  Rev.  William  Steele, 
of  Broughton,  Hampshire.  She  was  never  married,  but  in  her  later 
years  became  Mrs.  Steele,  by  one  of  the  beautiful  courtesies  of  the 
olden  time.  She  was  the  author  of  Poems  on  Subjects  chiefly  devo- 
tional, in  3  vols.  The  collection  includes  144  Hymns,  34  Psalms,  and 
about  50  poems  on  moral  subjects.  Some  of  her  Hymns  are  faultless 
as  lyrics,  and  are  familiar  in  almost  every  household  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

Falconer. 

William  Falconer,  1730-1769,  has  a  permanent  place  in  English 
literature  by  his  one  remarkable  poem.  The  Shipwreck. 


JOHNSON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       115 

Chatterton. 

Thomas  Chatterton,  1752-1770,  was  a  youthful  poet,  whose  extraor- 
dinary talents  and  impostures  are  among  the  standing  wonders  of 
literary  history.  Chatterton  was  born  in  Bristol,  and  was  the  son  of  a 
sexton.  The  family  for  some  generations  had  been  in  charge  of  the 
Eadcliff  church,  and  it  was  in  the  muniment-room  of  this  church  that 
the  young  poet  found  the  means  for  his  impostures.  He  had  a  morbid 
fancy  for  anything  curious  or  antique,  and  the  illuminated  capitals  in 
some  of  the  old  manuscripts  to  which  he  had  access  excited  him.  At 
the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  scrivener,  and  not  having 
much  else  to  do,  he  eagerly  devoured  everything  on  the  subject  of 
heraldry  and  antiquities  that  came  in  his  way. 

On  the  opening  of  the  xsew  Bridge,  the  Bristol  papers  contained  A 
*  Description  of  the  Fryer's  First  Passage  over  the  Old  Bridge,  purport- 
ing to  be  taken  from  an  ancient  manilscript.  The  paper,  which  was 
a  really  curious  affair,  being  traced  to  the  boy  Chatterton,  he  declared 
that  it  had  been  found  by  his  father,  with  many  other  old  MSS.,  in  an 
iron  chest  in  the  muniment-room  of  the  church.  From  this  time,  he 
continued  to  furnish  to  the  public  and  to  individuals  specimens  of 
these  old  MSS. 

The  poetical  compositions  which  he  furnished  purported  to  be 
chiefly  by  W.  Canynge,  a  Bristol  merchant,  and  Thomas  Rowley,  a 
monk  or  secular  priest,  both  of  the  fifteefith  century.  The  peculiarities 
of  the  ancient  manuscripts,  the  spelling,  grammar,  and  modes  of 
thought  were  so  thoroughly  imitated,  that  the  documents  seemed  cer- 
tainly genuine ;  yet  the  poetry  was  of  so  superior  a  character  to  any- 
thing likely  to  be  found  in  such  circumstances,  that  the  critics  were 
sorely  puzzled.  A  violent  controversy  arose  on  the  question  of  the 
authenticity  of  these  remarkable  productions.  Why  should  a  lad, 
who  could  produce  from  his  own  brain  poetry  of  so  high  an  order,  tax 
his  ingenuity  to  palm  off  the  credit  of  it  upon  others  ?  Nearly  all  the 
leading  writers  and  critics  of  the  day,  Horace  Walpole,  Dr.  Johnson, 
Gibbon,  Bishop  Percy,  and  a  host  of  others,  engaged  in  the  discussion. 
Young  Chatterton  went  to  London,  and  readily  made  engagements 
with  the  booksellers,  and  was  on  the  full  tide  of  literary  success  when 
suddenly  he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed,  from  the  effects  of  a  dose  of 
arsenic.  There  was  a  streak  of  insanity  in  the  family,  and  the  disease 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  led  him  to  this  sad  end,  was  prob- 
ably only  another  form  of  that  which  had  prompted  his  strange  im- 
postures.   He  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  nine  months. 


116  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

IV.     THEOLOGICAL   WRITERS. 

Bishop  Warburton. 

William  Warburton,  1698-1779,  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  fig- 
ures of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  especially  as  a  writer  on  polemic 
theology.  His  chief  work,  the  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  displayed 
prodigious  learning  and  abilities.  He  is  noted  for  his  belligerent  pro- 
pensities, and  for  the  great  variety,  as  well  as  the  extent,  of  his  attain- 
ments. 

The  Divine  Legation  of  Moses  was  an  argument  against  the  deistical 
philosophy  of  the  day.  Into  this  work,  and  the  Vindication  which  he 
wrote  in  reply  to  attacks  upon  it,  Warburton  poured  all  the  treasures 
of  his  learning.  It  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  one  of  the  very  master- 
pieces of  English  tlieology.  The  style  is  rough  and  often  confused, 
but  abounds  in  brilliant  passages,  and  is  a  strong  testimonial  to  the 
author's  erudition.  One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  work  is 
Warburton's  anticipation  of  modern  discoveries  in  Egyptology. 

According  to  Lord  Jefirey,  Warburton  was  the  last  of  the  race  of 
powerful  English  polemics,  a  giant  in  literature,  but  with  many  of  the 
vices  of  the  gigantic  character. 

Bishop  Lo^ATth. 

Kobert  Lowth,  D.  D.,  1710-1787,  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford,  was 
a  man  of  eminent  standing  in  the  Church  of  England.  His  chief  work 
was  Praelections  on  Hebrew  Poetry.  He  wrote  also  an  English 
Grammar,  which  was  the  foundation  of  Murray's. 

Hervey. 

James  Hervey,  1713-1758,  a  divine  of  the  English  Church,  edu- 
cated at  Oxford,  was  a  man  of  a  very  devotional  spirit.  His  works 
have  been  published  in  6  vols.,  8vo.  The  most  popular  by  far  was 
the  Meditations.  "Hervey's  Meditations,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the 
Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  the  Bible,  are  commonly  seen  together  on  a 
shelf  in  the  cottages  of  England."  The  sentiments  are  devout,  and 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  poetical  imagery,  but  the  style  is  inflated  and 
pompous. 

La>Ar. 

William  Law,  1687-1761,  a  graduate  and  Fellow  of  Cambridge, 
gave  up  his  Fellowship  in  1761  and  became  a  Non-conformist. 


JOHXSON   AKD    HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       117 

Law's  works  have  been  printed  in  9  vols.,  8vo.  Most  of  them  are 
controversial,  and  are  of  no  special  interest  except  as  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  times.  Others,  as  the  Serious  Call  to  a  Holy  Life,  and 
the  Treatise  on  Christian  Perfection,  are  still  among  our  most  popular 
works  on  practical  religion. 

Thomas  Ne^Arton. 

Thomas  Newton,  D.D.,  1704-1782,  a  graduate  of  Cambridge,  and  a 
Bishop  of  the  English  Church,  is  well  known  to  theological  literature 
by  his  large  work  on  the  Prophecies.  This  was  for  a  long  time  con- 
sidered a  standard  work  on  this  subject,  but  has  of  late  lost  much  of 
its  authority  as  a  true  interpretation  of  the  prophetical  writings. 

Cruden. 

Alexander  Cruden,  1701-1770,  is  known  to  literature  by  his  one 
work,  the  Concordance  to  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Lardner. 

Nathaniel  Lardner,  D.  D.,  1684-1768,  wrote  a  work  of  immense 
learning  on  the  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  published  originally 
in  17  volumes.  His  work  gives  evidence  of  immense  reading  and  in- 
dustry, as  well  as  sound  judgment,  and  is  regarded  as  exhaustive  of 
the  biblical  learning  of  the  times. 

Bishop  Challoner. 

Eichard  Challoner,  D.  D.,  1691-1781,  a  learned  Bishop  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  England,  wrote  many  works,  partly  controversial, 
and  partly  dogmatic  and  devotional,  and  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  writer. 
Challoner  published  an  English  Bible,  being  in  some  sense  a  new 
version,  and  differing  considerably  in  its  diction  from  that  of  the 
Rheims-Douay.  Dr.  Chal loner's  version  has  been  followed  more  than 
any- other  by  English-speaking  Catholics  since  his  day,  and  his  influ- 
ence upon  the  language  of  religion  and  devotion  among  Catholics  has 
been  accordingly  very  great.  His  influence  in  this  respect  has  been 
still  further  increased  by  the  great  and  continued  popularity  of  his 
books  on  practical  religion,  such  as  '*  The  Catholic  Christian  Instruct- 
ed," "  Meditations,"  and  other  devotional  works,  some  of  which  have 
been  circulated  by  millions.  So  familiar,  indeed,  is  the  language  of 
Challoner  to  Catholic  Christians  generally,  that  whenever,  in  any  dio- 
cese, the  question  arises  as  to  which  English  version  of  the  Vulgate 


118  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

shall  be  authorized  for  use  in  that  diocese,  the  preference  is  given  to 
Challoner's,  rather  than  to  the  Rheims-Douay,  notwithstanding  the  tra- 
ditional veneration  in  which  the  latter  is  held.  This  was  the  decision 
of  the  late  Cardinal  Wiseman,  and  has  been  that  of  most  English- 
speaking  Bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  the  last  hundred  years. 

Aiban  Butler. 

Alban  Butler,  1700-1773,  an  English  Catholic,  educated  at  Douay, 
and  for  a  long  time  President  at  St.  Omer's,  spent  a  large  part  of  thirty 
years  in  his  compilation  of  the  Lives  of  the  Saints.  This  was  a  large 
work,  in  12  vols.,  8vo.  It  was  translated  into  French,  Spanish,  and 
Italian,  and  it  has  passed  through  several  editions.  It  is  a  storehouse 
of  curious  learning,  both  ecclesiastical  and  secular,  and  it  is  written  in 
a  style  of  great  purity  and  beauty.  The  author  appears  to  have  been 
a  man  of  refinement  and  culture,  singularly  inoffensive  in  manners  and 
spirit,  carrying  out  in  his  life  that  amenity  of  temper  everywhere  ob- 
servable in  his  writings. 


CHAPTER  XL 

COWPER  AND  HIS  CONTEMPORARIES- 
(1780-1800.) 

During  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  was 
no  English  writer  equal  in  originality  and  power  to  the  poet  Cowper. 
He  is  taken,  therefore,  as  the  representative  man  of  the  period.  The 
great  political  event  of  the  time  was  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Kev- 
olution. 

Note.  —  At  no  point  in  the  history  of  English  literature  is  it  so  dif- 
ficult to  mark  a  well-defined  period  as  here.  Many  writers,  whom  it 
is  necessary  to  include  in  the  present  chapter,  had  intimate  relations 
with  the  writers  and  the  events  of  the  previous  period.  Many  of  the 
writers,  on  the  other  hand,  survived  far  into  the  present  century,  and 
had  relations  with  Scott,  Byron,  Coleridge,  and  their  associates.  Yet 
a  careful  consideration  of  their  several  cases  will,  it  is  believed,  show 
that  the  main  connection  of  these  writers,  after  all,  was  with  the 
writers  and  events  of  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
It  is  still  more  evident  that  the  popular  literature  of  the  period,  par- 
ticularly in  its  poetical  and  theological  aspects,  assumed  new  and 
marked  features,  after  Cowper  and  the  Wesleys,  and  tike  religious 
movement  which  they  represented,  had  received  full  and  distinct  re- 
cognition. 

The  writers  of  this  period  are  divided  into  four  sections :  1.  The 
Poets,  beginning  with  Cowper;  2.  The  Dramatists,  beginning  with 
Sheridan ;  3.  Miscellaneous  Prose  Writers,  beginning  with  Hannah 
More ;  4.  Theological  Writers,  beginning  with  the  Wesleys. 

119 


120  ENGLISH    LITERATUEE. 


I.     THE    POETS. 

Cowper. 

William  Cowper,  1731-1800,  created  a  new  era  in  English  poetry 
—  springing  at  a  bound  into  a  place  in  the  popular  heart  far  more 
firmly  established,  far  more  deeply  set,  than  Pope  had  ever  attained. 
Pope  had  been  the  poet  of  the  wits ;  Cowper  became  the  poet  of  the 
race.  The  poems  of  his  which  first  touched  the  popular  heart  were 
the  Task,  and  the  ballad  of  John  Gilpin.  The  impression  thus  pro- 
duced was  deepened  by  his  Hymns,  contributed  to  the  Olney  collection, 
and  by  his  extended  work,  the  Translation  of  Homer. 

Cowper,  though  in  moderate  circumstances  at  the  time  of  his  birth, 
was  connected,  both  on  his  father's  and  his  mother's  side,  with  some 
of  the  noblest  families  in  England.  He  was  of  a  gentle,  sensitive  na- 
ture, and  through  life  he  instinctively  shrank  from  whatever  required 
any  sort  of  rude  encounter  with  his  fellows.  At  the  age  of  six,  his 
mother  being  dead,  he  was  sent  for  two  years  to  a  boarding-school, 
where  he  suffered  intolerable  hardships  from  the  tyranny  of  one  of  the 
older  boys.  He  then  went  to  Westminster  School,  where  he  served  an 
apprenticeship  of  seven  years  to  the  classics. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  articled  as  a  clerk  in  a  law  office.  In 
due  time  he  was  called  to  the  bar,  and  he  took  chambers,  but  he  gained 
no  clients.  His  father  was  now  dead,  he  was  in  his  thirty-second  year, 
and  his  patrimony  was  nearly  gone.  At  this  crisis,  one  of  his  power- 
ful kinsmen  procured  for  him  the  lucrative  appointment  of  Clerk  of 
the  Journals  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  dread  of  qualifying  himself 
by  going  through  the  necessary  formalities  in  presence  of  the  Lords, 
plunged  him  into  the  deepest  distress.  The  seeds  of  insanity  were  al- 
ready in  his  frame,  and  after  brooding  a  while  over  his  condition,  he 
became  entirely  insane,  and  attempted  suicide.  In  the  course  of  two 
years,  under  treatment  at  a  private  asylum,  the  cloud  passed  away, 
and  he  retired  to  a  small  country  town  where  his  brother  resided. 

While  living  with  his  brother  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  the  cler- 
gyman of  the  place,  Eev.  Mr.  Unwin,  and  finally  became  an  inmate 
of  the  family.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Unwin,  his  widow,  Mary  Un- 
win, continued  to  watch  over  Cowper  with  a  friendship  that  never 
faltered.  The  family  removed,  however,  to  Olney,  the  residence  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Newton ;  and  from  that  time  John  Newton  and  Mary 
Unwin  are  the  main  figures  in  the  canvas  which  contains  the  picture 
of  Cowper's  life.  Here  he  contributed  some  Hymns  to  the  volume 
which  Mr.  Newton  was  preparing.     His  morbid  melancholy  again 


THE    POETS.  121 

returned,  and  he  became  once  more  entirely  insane.  On  recovering 
from  this  second  attack,  Cowper  amused  himself  with  gardening, 
drawing,  rearing  hares,  and  writing  poetry.  A  volume  of  his  poems 
was  published,  but  it  attracted  little  attention  and  had  small  sales. 

At  this  time  Lady  Austen  became  one  of  the  frequent  guests  of  the 
household,  and  it  was  at  her  suggestion  that  Cowper  wrote  the  inimi- 
table poem  of  John  Gilpin,  she  having  given  him  the  outline  of  the 
story.  The  effect  of  this  poem  was  electrical,  not  only  upon  the  pub- 
lic, but  upon  the  author.  At  Lady  Austen's  suggestion,  Cowper  next 
tried  his  hand  at  blank  verse,  the  result  being  the  Task,  the  subject 
as  before  being  assigned  by  this  most  wise  and  judicious  adviser.  The 
Task  was  immediately  and  universally  popular.  It  opened  an  alto- 
gether new  field  in  English  letters.  This  was  followed  by  no  less  an 
undertaking  than  a  new  translation  of  Homer,  which  he  completed  in 
1791,  after  seven  years  of  continued  labor. 

After  this  a  deepening  gloom  began  to  settle  on  his  mind,  with  occa- 
sional bright  intervals.  His  life-long  friend,  Mary  Unwin,  died  in 
1796.  "  The  unhappy  poet  would  not  believe  that  she  was  actually 
dead ;  he  went  to  see  the  body,  and  on  witnessing  the  unaltered  pla- 
cidity of  death,  flung  himself  to  the  other  side  of  the  room  with  a  pas- 
sionate expression  of  feeling,  and  from  that  time  he  never  mentioned 
her  name,  or  spoke  of  her  again."  Cowper  lingered  on  for  three  years 
or  more,  when  death  came  at  last  to  his  release. 

John  Newton. 

Rev.  John  Newton,  1725-1807,  is  indissolubly  associated  with  the 
history  and  the  writings  of  Cowper.  Newton  was  a  native  of  London. 
He  went  to  sea  at  tlie  age  of  eleven  ;  was  engaged  for  some  years  in 
the  slave-trade,  experienced  a  religious  conversion  of  an  extraordinary 
character,  and  became  afterwards  a  very  zealous  preacher.  He  was 
for  seventeen  years  curate  of  the  church  at  Olney,  and  he  is  chiefly 
known  by  his  connection  with  that  church.  The  Olney  Hymns, 
selected  and  partly  composed  by  Newton,  Cowper,  and  James  Mont- 
gomery, are  Avell  known,  and  form  a  marked  feature  in  the  history  of 
English  hyranody.  Newton's  writings  are  of  the  extreme  evangelical 
type,  and  are  noted  for  the  rich  vein  of  experimental  religion  that 
runs  through  them. 

Erasmus  Darwin. 

Erasmus  Darwin,  1731-1802,  attracted  considerable  attention  both 
as  a  poet  and  a  naturalist.    Darwin  was  a  physician  by  profession, 
11 


122  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

and  was  educated  at  Cambridge.  He  wrote  in  a  pleasing  style,  and 
tlie  novelty  and  daring  of  some  of  his  speculations  caused  his  works 
to  be  a  good  deal  read.  The  errors  in  his  theories,  however,  were 
exposed  by  Dugald  Stewart,  Thomas  Brown,  and  other  metaphysi- 
cians, and  his  writings  gradually  subsided  into  comparative  oblivion. 
His  best  known  work  is  The  Botanic  Garden,  a  Poem,  in  two  parts, 
Economy  of  Vegetation,  and  the  Loves  of  Plants. 

Beattie. 

James  Beattie,  D.  C.  L.,  1736-1803,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy 
and  Logic  in  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  was  a  friend  and  contempo- 
rary of  Johnson,  Goldsmith,  Reynolds,  Garrick,  and  others  of  that 
class.  He  is  well  known  as  a  poet  and  as  a  writer  on  moral  and  met- 
aphysical subjects.  Beattie's  most  popular  work  is  the  Minstrel,  a 
poem  in  the  Spenserian  stanza.  Of  his  prose  works,  the  chief  are: 
Essay  on  Truth,  intended  as  a  reply  to  Hume ;  Evidences  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion ;  Elements  of  Moral  Science.  The  Essay  on  Truth  met 
with  great  and  immediate-  favor.  It  brought  him  the  offer  of  the  chair 
of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  which,  however, 
he  declined.  It  gained  him  also  the  acquaintance  and  intimacy  of  the 
most  distinguished  writers  of  the  day,  and  a  substantial  token  of  royal 
favor  in  the  shape  of  a  pension  of  £200  per  annum. 

Burns. 

Robert  Burns,  1759-1796,  was  "by  far  the  greatest  poet  that  ever 
sprung  from  the  bosom  of  the  people  and  lived  and  died  in  an  humble 
condition."  —  Wilson. 

Burns  was  a  poor  ploughboy,  with  no  advantages  of  education  ex- 
cept those  afibrded  by  the  common  country  school.  His  early  effu- 
sions were  circulated  at  first  in  manuscript.  Finding  that  they  were 
in  demand  among  his  neighbors,  he  printed  a  volume  of  them  at  an 
obscure  country  town,  in  1786.  His  special  object  in  the  publication 
was  to  get  money  to  enable  him  to  emigrate  to  Jamaica.  The  publi- 
cation yielded  him  a  profit  of  £20,  which  seemed  a  fortune  to  the 
young  author.  He  engaged  his  passage  accordingly,  sent  his  chest 
aboard  the  vessel,  and  was  just  about  to  set  sail,  when  he  received  from 
Dr.  Blacklock  a  letter  inviting  him  to  visit  Edinburgh.  The  Doctor 
had  fallen  in  with  a  copy  of  the  poems,  and  encouraged  Burns  to  be- 
lieve that  an  edition  might  be  published  in  the  capital. 

The  poet  changed  at  once  his  plans,  and  went  to  Edinburgh.  There 
his  wonderful  abilities,  in  connection  with  the  humbleness  of  his  posi- 


THE    DRAMATISTS.  123 

tion,  created  a  great  sensation.  Dugald  Stewart,  Kobertson  the  his- 
torian, Dr.  Hugh  Blair,  and  all  that  was  most  aristocratic  in  either  the 
intellectual  or  the  social  circles  of  that  reserved  and  haughty  metrop- 
olis, gathered  in  admiring  wonder  around  this  inspired  peasant.  A 
new  edition  of  his  poems  was  printed,  which  brought  him  at  once  the 
handsome  sum  of  £700.  He  was  caressed  and  feted  on  all  sides,  and 
being  of  an  ardent  temperament,  he  yielded  to  the  temptation  which 
these  social  festivities  presented.  He  fell  into  the  habit  of  drinking  to 
intoxication,  from  which  he  never  totally  recovered,  though  he  made 
sundry  attempts  at  reform.    He  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-seven. 

Grahame. 

Eev.  James  Grahame,  1765-1811,  is  favorably  known  by  his  poem, 
The  Sabbath.  Grahame  was  born  in  Glasgow,  and  educated  at  its 
University.  He  followed  the  law  for  a  time,  but  afterwards  entered 
the  ministry  of  the  English  Church.  He  was  very  acceptable  as  a 
preacher,  but  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  curacy  on  account  of  ill  health. 
His  poetry  is  of  a  very  serious  cast,  and  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of  such 
men  as  Byron,  who  calls  him  "sepulchral  Grahame."  For  all  that, 
he  has  substantial  merits  and  not  a  few  admirers. 

Mrs.  Inehbald. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Inehbald,  1756-1821,  was  a  writer  of  considerable 
celebrity  at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  She  was  a  native  of  Suf- 
folk, the  daughter  of  Mr,  Simpson,  a  farmer.  At  the  age  of  sixteen, 
slic  came  to  London  and  made  lier  debut  upon  the  stage.  Soon  after- 
wards she  married  Mr.  Inehbald,  a  leading  actor.  Mrs.  Inehbald  was 
extremely  successful  as  an  actress  until  her  retirement  in  1789.  From 
that  time  she  devoted  herself  exclusively  to  dramatic  literature,  pub- 
lishing a  number  of  comedies  and  farces,  and  editing  The  British  The- 
atre, a  collection  of  plays,  in  25  vols.,  with  biographical  and  critical 
remarks ;  also  the  Modern  Theatre,  in  10  vols. 


II.     THE   DRAMATISTS. 

Sheridan. 

Kichard  Brinsley  Butler  Sheridan,  1751-1816,  was  a  brilliant  Par- 
liamentary orator.  His  chief  distinction,  however,  was  as  a  drama- 
tist. In  this  respect,  he  is  inferior  to  Shakespeare  only.  As  mere 
acting  plays,  those  of  Sheridan  are  considered  the  best  in  the  language. 


124  *      ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

His  chief  plays,  Comedies,  are  the  following :  The  Eivals,  The  Du- 
enna, The  Critic,  and  The  School  for  Scandal.  The  one  last  named  is 
considered  his  masterpiece. 

Sheridan's  fame  from  the  authorship  of  these  pieces  was  already 
very  high.  But  he  was  destined  to  win  other  laurels,  equally  great. 
Having  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Whig  party,  he  gained  a  seat  in 
Parliament,  and  was  an  active  supporter  of  Fox.  In  1788,  during  the 
impeachment  of  Warren  Plastings,  Sheridan  delivered  his  two  so-called 
Begum  speeches,  the  first  of  which  was  pronounced  by  acclamation  the 
most  wonderful  single  speech  ever  made  in  Parliament.  When  the  orator 
had  finished,  the  House  was  a  scene  of  utter  commotion  and  applause, 
cheering,  and  clapping  of  hands.  So  great  was  the  confusion  that  no 
one  else  could  be  heard,  and  the  House  adjourned.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted  that  we  have  only  a  meagre  and  incorrect  report  of  this 
wonderful  performance.  His  other  speeches,  able  as  they  are,  do  not 
justify  any  such  extraordinary  fame. 

Garriek. 

David  Garriek,  1716-1779,  the  greatest  of  English  actors,  was  also 
a  man  of  letters,  and  was  the  intimate  friend  and  associate  of  nearly 
all  the  great  writers  of  England  who  were  contemporary  with  him. 
In  his  youth  Garriek  went  to  school  to  Samuel  Johnson,  in  Lichfield, 
and  in  1736  master  and  pupil  went  to  London  together  to  seek  their 
fortunes.  Johnson  became  the  autocrat  among  authors,  Garriek  the 
prince  without  a  peer  among  actors. 

Foote.  ^ 

Samuel  Foote,  1722-1777,  is  sometimes  called  the  "English  Aris- 
tophanes." He  wrpte  a  large  number  of  comedies  for  his  own  acting, 
in  a  playhouse  belonging  to  himself,  the  Little  Theatre  in  the  Hay- 
market.  Foote's  Dramatic  Works  have  been  published  in  4  vols., 
8vo.  There  is  nothing  specially  notable  in  them,  except  their  good- 
natured  fun. 

Home. 

John  Home,  1724-1808,  acquired  general  celebrity  by  his  play  of 
Douglas.  He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and 
licensed  to  preach  in  the  Church  of  Scotland.  In  1757,  he  was  obliged 
to  withdraw  from  the  ministry  to  avoid  degradation,  in  cotisequence 
of  having  published,  and  had  performed,  his  play  of  Douglas.  He  was 
the  author  of  several  plays,  none  of  which,  except  the  Douglas,  met 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      125 

with  any  success.  This  last,  a  tragedy,  was  greeted  with  enthusiasm 
on  the  occasion  of  its  first  rendering,  and  has  maintained  its  position 
ever  since.  Several  of  its  scenes  are  unsurpassed  for  efiectiveness 
upon  the  stage. 

III.    MISCELLANEOUS  PROSE  WRITERS. 

Hannah  More. 

Hannah  More,  1745-1833,  was  a  "bright  particular  star"  in  the 
firmament  of  letters  all  through  three  of  the  periods  marked  in  the  pres- 
ent treatise,  those,  namely,  of  Johnson,  Cowper,  and  Walter  Scott.  But 
she  culminated  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  to  that  period  accordingly  she  has  been  assigned. 

Though  never  married,  she  acquired  by  courtesy,  in  her  later  years, 
the  title  of  Mrs.  Hannah  More,  according  to  a  usage  not  then  extinct 
in  England.  She  wrote  much  both  in  verse  and  prose,  but  distinguished 
herself  cliiefly  in  the  latter. 

Of  all  writers  of  her  day,  of  either  sex,  none  exerted  by  their  writings 
a  purer  influence ;  and  she  is  entitled  to  lasting  remembrance  for  the 
services  which  she  rendered  in  improving  and  elevating  the  standard 
of  private  morals.  She  was  pre-eminently  the  moralist  of  her  gener- 
ation. 

Hannah  More's  earliest  productions  were  dramatic.  She  afterwards 
abandoned  writing  for  the  stage,  as  inconsistent  with  her  Christian 
character,  but  produced  several  sacred  dramas,  and  numerous  poems. 
She  is  best  known  by  her  Moral  Tales  and  her  Contributions  to  the 
Cheap  Repository  Tracts.  Among  the  latter  is  the  famous  Shepherd 
of  Salisbury  Plain.  Among  the  former  is  Ccelebs  in  Search  of  a  Wife. 
She  also  wrote  several  essays,  the  principal  of  which  are  Strictures  on 
the  Modern  System  of  Female  Education,  and  Hints  towards  forming 
the  Character  of  a  Young  Princess  (for  Charlotte,  Princess  of  Wales). 

Madame  D'Arblay. 

Madame  Frances  D'Arblay,  1752-1840,  daughter  and  biographer 
of  the  great  historian  of  music,  Dr.  Burney,  lived  to  the  extreme  age 
of  eighty-eight,  which  brings  her  in  one  sense  witliin  the  present  gen- 
eration. But  her  main  activity  was  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  she 
belongs  really  to  the  times  of  Johnson,  Burke,  Cowper,  and  Hannah 
More. 

Fanny  was  a  shy,  sensitive  child,  and  at  the  age  of  eight  did  not 
know  her  letters.  Her  mother  dying  when  Fanny  was  ten,  and  her 
11^ 


126  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

father  from  over-indulgence  not  putting  her  under  the  control  of  a 
tutor,  she  grew  up  into  womanhood  pretty  much  "  according  to  her 
own  sweet  will."  The  musical  reputation  of  Dr.  Burney  made  his 
house  the  resort  of  all  the  great  men  of  letters,  Johnson,  Burke,  Garrick, 
and  others,  and  it  was  the  brilliant  conversation  of  these  men  that  first 
gave  a  stimulus  to  the  thoughts  of  the  reserved,  but  all-observing  girl. 

Evelina,  her  first  work,  was  written,  according  to  her  own  account, 
when  she  was  about  seventeen  or  eighteen.  She  kept  the  composition 
of  it  entirely  to  herself  for  several  years,  and  then  sent  it  anonymously 
for  publication.  It  became  at  once  extremely  popular,  and  gained  the 
applause  of  the  highest  critics  then  known  to  the  nation.  Several 
other  novels  followed,  all  extremely  popular.  She  wrote  also  a  Me- 
moir of  her  father.  Dr.  Burney,  in  3  vols. 

Miss  Burney  had  the  ill-fortune  to  be  appointed  to  the  post  of  the 
Keeper  of  Robes  to  Queen  Charlotte.  The  life  to  which  she  was  here 
subjected,  was  one  peculiarly  unsuited  to  her  sensitive  nature ;  and 
though  treated  with  gentle  kindness  by  her  royal  patrons,  she  felt  the 
position  to  be  an  intolerable  bondage.  She  was  married  in  1793  to  a 
French  otficer.  Count  D'Arblay,  and  in  1802  she  accompanied  him  to 
Paris,  where  she  remained  until  his  death,  in  1812.  Her  remaining 
years  were  spent  in  England. 

The  Diary  and  Letters  of  Madame  D'Arblay  were  published  after 
her  death,  in  7  vols.,  8vo,  and  created  considerable  sensation  on  account 
of  the  eminent  character  of  the  persons  among  whom  she  had  moved, 
and  the  unreserved  nature  of  her  observations. 

"Miss  Burney  did  for  the  English  novel  what  Jeremy  Collier  did 
for  the  English  drama.  She  first  showed  that  a  tale  might  be  written 
in  which  both  the  fashionable  and  the  vulgar  life  of  London  might  be 
exhibited  with  great  force,  and  with  l)roa(l  comic  humor,  and  which 
yet  should  not  contain  a  single  line  inconsistent  with  rigid  morality, 
or  even  with  virgin  delicacy.  She  took  away  the  reproach  which  lay 
on  a  most  useful  and  delightful  species  of  composition.  She  vindicated 
the  right  of  her  sex  to  have  an  equal  share  in  a  fair  and  noble  promise 
of  letters.  Burke  had  sat  up  all  night  to  read  her  writings,  and  John- 
son had  pronounced  her  superior  to  Fielding,  when  Rogers  was  still  a 
school-boy,  and  Southey  still  in  petticoats."  —  Macaulay. 

Dr.  Burney. 

Charles  Burney,  1726-1814,  father  of  Fanny  Burney,  just  noticed, 

published  in  1773  a  History  of  Music,  which  is  still  a  standard  on  the 

subject  of  which  it  treats.     Dr.  Burney  (he  received  from  Oxford  the 

unusual  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music)  was  eminent  as  a  musician  and 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      127 

a  writer  of  music  ;    but  gained  his  chief  distinction  by  becoming  the 
historian  of  the  science. 

Mrs.  Radeliffe. 

Mrs.  Anna  Kadcliffe,  1764-1823,  attained  great  temporary  distinc- 
tion as  a  novelist.  One  of  her  novels,  the  Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  is 
unparalleled  in  its  kind  in  English  literature.  About  the  beginning 
of  this  century  Mrs.  Kadcliffe  was  one  of  the  bright  stars  of  the  lit- 
erary firmament,  admired  not  merely  by  the  vulgar  worshippers  of  the 
novel,  but  by  men  of  unquestioned  genius.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Talfourd, 
Dr.  Warren,  Byron,  were  among  her  enthusiastic  readers.  Yet  so 
completely  has  the  popular  fancy  changed,  and  the  love  of  the  un- 
natural and  horrible  been  replaced  by  a  taste  for  what  is  healthier,  at 
least  more  life-like,  that  Mrs.  Radeliffe  is  scarcely  known  to  the  public 
except  by  name,  and  scarcely  read  except  by  the  professional  student  of 
literature.  Her  truly  great  contemporaries  have  waxed  more  and 
more  in  brightness,  while  she  herself  has  waned  into  the  obscurity  of 
the  upper  shelves  of  the  circulating  library. 

Mackenzie. 

Henry  Mackenzie,  1745-1831,  is  well  known  as  a  sentimental  writer 
of  this  period,  his  Man  of  Feeling  being  an  acknowledged  classic  in 
that  line.  Mackenzie's  style  resembles  closely  that  of  Sterne,  and  his 
wj-itings  are  nearly  all  of  the  sentimental  order.  They  are  superior  to 
Sterne's  in  purity  of  morals,  but  are  decidedly  inferior  in  vigor  of  in- 
vention and  play  of  humor. 

Paine. 

Thomas  Paine,  1736-1809,  a  political  and  infidel  writer  of  the  last 
century,  acquired  great  temporary  notoriety,  partly  by  his  connection 
with  the  American  and  the  French  Revolutions,  and  partly  by  the  reck- 
less hardihood  of  his  writings. 

He  sympathized  warmly  with  the  Americans  in  the  contest  with 
Great  Britain,  and  in  January,  1776,  published  the  pamphlet.  Common 
Sense,  which  made  a  prodigious  sensation,  and  helped  doubtless  to  pre- 
cipitate the  crisis  which  took  place  on  the  4th  of  July  following. 

The  terrible  ferment  of  the  French  Revolution  was  of  just  the  kind 
to  awaken  his  active  sympathies,  and  in  1791-2  he  published  in  Lon- 
don the  Rights  of  Man,  in  reply  to  Burke  and  in  advocacy  of  the 
most  extreme  views  of  the  French  Republicans.  The  book  had  an 
enormous  sale.    Its  views  were  so  levelling  and  disorganizing  in  their 


128  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

scope,  and  its  effect  was  so  great  upon  the  lower  classes  in  Great  Britain, 
who  were  already  in  an  unsettled  and  dangerous  condition,  that  the 
Government  was  alarmed,  and  caused  Paine  to  be  prosecuted  for  sedi- 
tion and  libel. 

In  1794-0,  Paine  published  in  London  and  Paris  the  Age  of  Eeason, 
being  a  scurrilous  attack  on  Christianity.  Paine  was  a  shallow  man, 
whose  knowledge  was  infinitesimal  in  proportion  as  his  effrontery  was 
infinite.  The  sensation  that  he  produced  was  due  to  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  crisis  in  which  he  lived,  more  than  to  the  ability  of 
the -man.  His  conceit  of  himself  and  of  what  he  had  done,  was  of 
a  piece  with  the  rest  of  his  career.  He  really  believed  that  he  had 
given  the  death-blow  to  Christianity.  "I  have  now  gone  through  the 
Bible  as  a  man  would  go  through  a  wood,  with  an  axe  on  his  shoul- 
der, to  fell  trees.  Here  they  lie ;  and  the  priests,  if  they  can,  may 
replant  them.  They  may  perhaps  stick  them  in  the  ground,  but  they 
will  never  make  them  grow." 

Paine  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1802,  and  died  finally  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  great  obscurity,  his  closing  years  being  marked 
by  the  coarsest  profligacy  and  intemperance. 

Godwin. 

William  Godwin,  1756-1836,  is  chiefly  known  by  three  works  of  an 
entirely  different  character:  A  Life  of  Chaucer,  in  two  ponderous 
quarto  volumes ;  the  novel  of  Caleb  Williams,  in  which  the  element 
of  the  terrible  was  employed  with  a  power  hardly  equalled  elsewhere 
in  English  literature ;  and  an  abstruse  work  on  Political  Justice,  in 
which  the  attempt  was  made  to  undermine  the  entire  fabric  of  society, 
morals,  and  religion. 

Godwin  was  the  son  of  a  Dissenting  minister,  and  was  himself,  for 
some  years,  minister  to  a  Dissenting  congregation.  But  at  the  age  of 
twenty -six  he  abandoned  the  ministry,  and  gave  himself  up  to  literature 
as  a  profession,  making  London  his  permanent  residence. 

Adam  Smith. 

Adam  Smith,  1723-1790,  was  the  ablest  writer  of  his  age  on  political 
economy,  and  one  of  the  ablest  of  all  ages.  His  work,  the  Wealth 
of  Nations,  is  an  acknowledged  classic  on  that  subject.  To  its  author 
belongs  the  rare  merit  of  having  created  a  new  department  of  study. 
Before  Smith's  work,  it  is  true,  other  writers  had  thrown  out  hints  and 
ideas  on  special  topics,  but  Smith  was  the  first  to  follow  them  out,  to 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.   129 

reduce  the  obscure  and  isolated  gropings  of  would-be  reforms  to  system 
and  co-operation,  to  establish,  generalize,  and  elucidate,  —  in  short,  to 
create  the  study  of  political  economy. 

The  publication  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  marked  a  new  era  in 
human  research.  Thinkers  saw  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  a 
new  and  almost  unexpected  power,  that  what  had  before  been  regarded 
as  a  confused  and  arbitrary  jumbling  of  facts,  was  capable  of  being 
reduced  to  law  and  order,  and  that  one  of  the  great  phases  of  social 
and  political  science  must  thenceforth  be  reconstructed  from  top  to 
bottom.  Some  of  the  principles  laid  down  by  Smith  have  been  aban- 
doned, others  have  been  modified  or  expanded,  new  principles  have 
been  added.  But,  as  a  whole,  the  science  of  political  economy  is  as 
Smith  left  it,  and  his  book  is  perhaps  the  most  readable  manual  for 
the  beginner.  Part  of  its  success  is  due  to  the  grace  and  vigor  of  its 
style. 

Paley. 

William  Paley,  D.  D.,  1743-1805,  attained  great  and  permanent 
celebrity  by  his  writings  on  Moral  Philosophy  and  kindred  subjects. 
Paley's  works  are  not  so  numerous  as  those  of  some  divines  of  equal 
celebrity,  but  are  of  extraordinary  excellence.  They  are  Moral  Phi- 
losophy, Natural  Theology,  Evidences  of  Christianity,  and  Horse  Pau- 
linse.  All  these  have  been  used  as  text-books  in  colleges  and  other 
institutions  of  learning,  both  in  England  and  America,  to  an  extent 
not  equalled  by  any  other  set  of  books  on  the  same  subjects,  and  part 
of  them  are  still  used  extensively,  notwitlistanding  the  many  and  able 
treatises  on  these  subjects  which  have  appeared  since  the  days  of 
Paley. 

Paley's  theory  of  morals,  basing  duty  upon  expediency,  is  regarded 
as  unsound,  and  many  of  the  practical  duties  which  he  deduced  from 
it  are  considered  lax.  Yet  such  is  the  clearness  of  his  reasoning,  and 
so  valuable  is  his  work  in  the  other  portions  of  it,  that  many  instruc- 
tors even  now  prefer  Paley's  book  on  Moral  Philosophy  to  any  other, 
making  in  the  class-room  the  corrections  which  may  be  needed. 

His  Natural  Theology,  proving  the  existence  and  perfections  of  God 
from  the  evidences  of  design  in  his  works,  has  never  been  superseded, 
and  it  probably  never  will  be.  The  work  on  the  Evidences,  though 
excellent,  has  not  been  considered  quite  equal  to  his  other  works. 
The  Horse  Paulinee,  however,  is  unsurpassed  as  a  specimen  of  ingenious 
reasoning  from  circumstantial  evidence,  and  it  will  probably  hold  its 
own  to  the  end  of  time. 

Dr.  Paley  wrote  some  other  things,  and  published  many  sermons, 

I 


130  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

but  the  four  works  named  are  all  that  are  worth  remembering.  Of 
all  who  have  written  on  these  subjects,  he  stands  unequalled  for  the 
clearness  with  which  he  expresses  his  ideas,  and  it  is  to  his  unrivalled 
power  in  this  respect,  rather  than  to  any  originality  or  depth  as  a 
thinker,  that  he  owes  his  great  and  long-continued  popularity. 

Re  id. 

Thomas  Keid,  D.  D.,  1710-1796,  was  an  eminent  Scotch  metaphysi- 
cian. He  was  elected,  in  1763,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in 
King's  College,  Aberdeen,  and  afterwards  Professor  in  the  University 
of  Glasgow.     The  latter  position  he  held  until  his  resignation,  in  1781. 

Dr.  Eeid  founded  a  new  school  of  metaphysics.  Its  object  was  to 
combat  the  errors  of  Hume  and  Berkeley  and  other  advocates  of  the 
Ideal  Theory.  The  corner-stone  of  his  philosophy  was  his  doctrine  of 
Immediate  Perception.  Previous  philosophers  had  said  that  the 
senses  give  us  ideas,  and  the  mind  perceives  these  ideas.  Keid  con- 
tended that  the  mind  perceives  the  objects  themselves  directly.  An- 
other prominent  point  in  his  system  was  his  doctrine  of  Common 
Sense.  Previous  philosophers  had  maintained  that  all  knowledge  is 
built  up  from  experience  originating  in  sensation.  Keid  asserted  that 
certain  elementary  truths  or  principles  are  perceived  by  the  mind  in- 
tuitively, without  reference  to  sensation  or  to  the  external  world ;  that 
these  truths,  both  intellectual  and  moral,  are  perceived  alike  by  all 
men,  and  show  thereby  the  existence  in  all  of  a  faculty  which  he  calls 
the  Common  Sense.  Keid's  immediate  disciple  and  the  chief  advo- 
cate of  his  philosophy  was  Dugald  Stewart.  The  system,  as  a  whole, 
has  not  held  its  ground.  But  some  of  his  leading  ideas,  particularly 
those  in  regard  to  Immediate  Perception  and  Common  Sense  or  direct 
intuitions  of  intellectual  and  moral  truths,  are  a  part  of  the  commonly 
received  doctrines  of  the  present  day. 

Keid's  chief  works  are  An  Inquiry  into  the  Human  Mind  on  the 
Principles  of  Common  Sense ;  and  Essays  on  the  Intellectual  Powers 
of  Man. 

Adam  Ferguson. 

Adam  Ferguson,  LL.D.,  1724-1816,  is  favorably  known  both  as  a 
philosophical  writer  and  an  historian.  He  was  for  many  years  Pro- 
fessor in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  first  in  the  department  of  Natu- 
ral Philosophy,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Moral  Philosophy.  His 
principal  works  are  Institutes  of  Moral  Philosophy,  and  a  History 
of  the  Roman  Kepublic,  5  vols.,  Svo.    The  work  last  named  should 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      131 

be  read  as  an  introduction  to  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall.     Gibbon 
takes  up  the  story  where  Ferguson  leaves  off. 

Hugh  Blair. 

Hugh  Blair,  D.D.,  1718-1800,  had  a  high  reputation  in  his  day  as 
a  writer  of  Sermons,  and  as  the  author  of  a  course  of  Lectures  on 
Rhetoric.  Blair  was  one  of  a  school  of  writers  that  prevailed  in  Edin- 
burgh near  the  close  of  the  last  century,  who  were  remarkable  for  cor- 
rectness rather  than  for  force  and  originality.  His  Sermons,  the  pub- 
lication of  which  began  in  1777,  had  a  greater  popularity  than  any 
ever  before  known  for  works  of  that  description.  Dr.  Johnson  was 
unbounded  in  his  admiration  of  them.  The  Sermons  circulated  rapidly 
and  widely,  wherever  the  English  language  was  spoken,  and  they  were 
translated  into  almost  all  the  languages  of  Europe.  After  a  time, 
however,  a  reaction  took  place ;  the  Sermons  began  to  be  criticised  as 
wanting  in  spiritual  unction,  and  as  artificial  and  stiff  in  composition. 
They  wanted,  it  was  said,  that  directness  of  purpose  and  expression, 
the  earnestness  and  reality,  which  are  essential  to  such  writings.  They 
have  now  fallen  almost  into  oblivion ;  and  when  mentioned  at  all, 
receive  an  estimate  as  much  below,  as  the  estimate  of  seventy  years 
ago  was  above,  their  real  worth. 

Besides  the  Sermons,  Blair  published  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and 
Belles-Lettres.  This  work  also  was  popular  from  the  first,  but  its  im- 
mediate popularity  was  not  so  great  as  that  of  the  Sermons ;  the  Rhet- 
oric, however,  has  survived  the  Sermons  ;  it  has  been  more  used  as  a 
text-book  on  that  subject,  both  in  England  and  the  United  States,  than 
any  other  book,  and  it  is  still  widely  used  in  both  countries. 

Campbell. 

George  Campbell,  D.D.,  1719-1796,  Principal  of  Marischal  College, 
was  the  author  of  a  valuable  work,  the  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric. 

Campbell  wrote  several  other  important  works,  among  them  A  Dis- 
sertation on  Miracles,  in  reply  to  Hume. 

Home  Tooke. 
John  Home  Tooke,  1736-1812,  wrote  a  work,  the  Diversions  of 
Parley,  which  has  exerted  an  extensive  and  lasting  influence  on 
English  philology.  In  this  work,  the  author  undertakes  to  give  a 
critical  analysis  of  language,  and  particularly  of  words  as  the  elements 
of  language,  and  to  establish  the  principles  of  lexicography  and  of 
verbal  criticism.     Tooke's  learning  was  not  sufficient  for  such   an 


132  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

undertaking.  But  he  had  great  acuteness;  he  made  some  most 
happy  guesses  as  to  the  origin  and  force  of  particular  words ;  and  he 
effectually  demolished  most  of  the  traditional  rubbish  which  had 
gathered  around  the  subject.  His  work,  though  now  in  the  main  ob- 
solete, did  a  great  and  timely  service  to  English  philology. 

Warton. 

Thomas  Warton,  1728-1790,  is  chiefly  known  by  his  History  of 
English  Poetry.  Warton  was  educated  at  Oxford,  where  he  was  suc- 
cessively Fellow,  Professor  of  Poetry,  and  Professor  of  Ancient  His- 
tory. He  was  also  Poet-Laureate  from  1785  to  1790.  He  is  mainly 
known  by  the  work  already  named,  A  History  of  English  Poetry,  3 
vols.,  4to.  The  history  is  brought  down  only  to  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  is  not  very  attractive  in  style,  and  not  alto- 
gether accurate  ;  yet  it  contains  much  valuable  matter  not  easily  found 
elsewhere,  and  it  did  important  service  in  calling  attention  to  several 
neglected  authors,  whose  works  have  since,  in  consequence  of  Warton' s 
remarks,  and  still  more  in  consequence  of  his  quotations  from  them, 
been  thoroughly  explored. 

Sir  William  Jones. 

Sir  William  Jones,  1746-1794,  is  the  most  distinguished  name  in 
the  history  of  English  Philology.  He  was  born  in  London ;  studied 
at  Harrow  and  Oxford  ;  was  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  Earl  Spen- 
cer; was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1774;  and  in  1783  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Fort  William,  India. 

Other  distinguished  British  philologists,  such  for  instance  as  Bent- 
ley,  Porson,  and  Wilson,  have  surpassed  him  in  accuracy  of  research 
in  special  fields,  but  none  have  equalled  him  in  breadth  of  vision. 
At  a  time  when  the  science  of  language  had  not  yet  been  born,  he  was 
a  proficient  in  many  widely  different  languages.  But  the  service  by 
which  his  name  will  ever  be  remembered  is  the  presentation  of- the 
claims  of  the  Sanscrit  to  the  notice  of  European  scholars.  He  was  the 
first  to  announce  the  great  fact  that  Sanscrit,  Latin,  and  Greek  are 
kindred  tongues.  This  principle,  afterwards  developed  so  successfully 
by  Bopp  in  his  Comparative  Grammar,  has  gained  for  Sir  William 
Jones  the  title  of  Father  of  Comparative  Philology.  For,  although 
the  science  has  advanced  wonderfully  since  then,  and  is  now  made  to 
embrace  all  languages  and  dialects,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the 
recognition  of  the  great  Indo-European  family  was  the  germ  from 
which  the  whole  has  sprung. 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      133 

Bishop  Percy. 

Thomas  Percy,  1728-1811,  gained  for  himself  a  permanent  place  in 
English  literature  by  his  publication  of  the  Eeliques  of  Ancient  English 
Poetry.  This  collection  of  old  English  ballads,  it  is  not  going  too  far 
to  say,  marked  a  new  era  in  literature.  It  introduced  a  taste  for  the 
pure  and  healthy  folk-ballad,  which  had  been  lost  during  and  since 
the  age  of  the  Eestoration.  The  great  minds  in  England  and  on  the 
continent  derived  new  delight  and  inspiration  from  the  study  of  these 
Reliques  of  a  half-forgotten  age.  We  have  only  to  turn  to  the  biogra- 
phies of  men  like  Goethe,  Burger,  Schiller,  Scott,  Byron,  and  Words- 
worth, to  learn  of  their  effect.  Since  Percy's  day  the  good  work  begun 
by  him  has  gone  on  unceasingly.  Other  and  larger  stores  of  folk-song 
have  been  discovered,  more  accurate  scholarship  and  sounder  criticism 
have  developed  themselves,  but  still  the  labors  of  Bishop  Percy  are 
not  forgotten,  and  will  not  be  so  long  as  a,  genuine  love  of  naiive  poetry 


Walker. 

John  Walker,  1732-1807,  a  celebrated  elocutionist  of  London,  is 
widely  known  from  his  connection  with  the  English  Dictionary. 
Walker  was  in  early  life  an  actor.  At  the  age  of  thirty-five  he  left 
the  stage,  and  engaged  in  teaching,  which  after  two  years  he  abandoned, 
and  devoted  himself  to  public  lectures  on  Elocution.  These  he  deliv- 
ered with  great  applause  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 

Walker  had  -a  quick  ear,  and  was  a  careful  observer  of  the  sounds 
of  the  language ;  and  by  taking  note  of  the  way  in  which  the  several 
words  were  uttered  by  educated  people,  and  by  the  best  public  speakers, 
he  was  enabled  to  give  a  standard  for  the  pronunciation  of  English 
words.  His  Pronouncing  Dictionary  became  an  authority,  not  on  the 
ground  of  his  dictum,  but  because  he  had  carefully  and  judiciously 
selected  for  each  word  or  set  of  words  that  pronunciation  which  was 
used  by  genteel  and  educated  people.  It  was  an  exact  exhibit,  pre- 
pared by  an  expert,  of  the  actual  pronunciation  of  English  words  by 
good  society.  The  work  was  so  well  done,  that  it  helped  greatly  to  fix 
what  is  in  itself  arbitrary  and  fluctuating,  and  Walker's  pronunciation 
has  continued  accordingly  without  material  change  to  the  present  day 
—  almost  a  century  from  the  time  when  he  began  his  work.  Walker 
was  not  a  lexicographer.  He  was  simply  an  orthoepist  and  elocution- 
ist. All  that  he  contributed  to  the  Dictionary  was  to  mark  the  pro- 
nunciation. 
12 


134  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Lindley  Murray. 

Lindley  Murray,  1745-1826,  holds  about  the  same  relation  to  Eng- 
lish Grammar  that  Walker  holds  to  the  English  Dictionary.  Murray's 
Grammar  was,  to  many  generations  of  school-boys  and  school-girls,  the 
court  in  the  last  resort  on  all  questions  of  correct  speaking  and  writing. 

Murray,  though  an  American  by  birth  and  education,  is  counted  an 
English  writer,  as  he  became  an  Englishman  by  residence,  and  wrote 
all  his  works  in  England.  He  was  born  at  Swatara,  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  educated  in  Philadelphia,  at  an  academy  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  to  which  body  he  belonged.  He  began  as 
a  lawyer ;  abandoned  law  for  the  counting-house  ;  retired  early  with 
a  competence ;  and  then  lived  for  some  years  on  the  Hudson,  three 
miles  above  New  York.  In  1784,  being  a  little  over  forty,  he  re- 
moved to  England,  and  lived  there  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

His  main  works  were  his  English  Grammar  and  his  English  Keader. 
These,  though  marked  by  no  special  originality  or  scholarship,  yet  by 
their  general  correctness,  and  by  their  being  pioneers  in  the  ground 
which  they  covered,  acquired  a  prodigious  influence  which  is  not  even 
yet  spent. 

Murray  was  no  philologist,  and  no  scholar  in  the  proper  acceptation 
of  the  term ;  he  was  not  even  a  grammarian,  as  the  word  is  now  under- 
'stood.  But  he  had  a  large  fund  of  common  sense,  and  he  reduced  to 
a  practical  form  the  grammatical  principles  advanced  first  by  Wallis 
and  afterwards  by  Bishop  Lowth.  As  English  Grammar  before  that 
time  had  only  begun  to  be  a  common  study,  scholars  previously  get- 
ting their  knowledge  of  grammar  from  their  study  of  Latin,  Murray's 
book  came  in  to  supply  a  want  just  beginning  to  rise;  and  it  acquired, 
and  for  a  long  time  held,  exclusive  possession  of  the  field.  His  Gram- 
mar was  in  various  forms,  from  2  vols.,  8vo,  down  to  small  abridg- 
ments in  18mo,  but  the  one  chiefly  in  use  was  the  12mo,  with  which 
most  readers  are  acquainted. 

Murray's  English  Eeader,  with  the  Introduction,  and  the  Sequel, 
had  an  enormous  sale,  both  in  England  and  America.  Indeed,  they 
are  still  extensively  used  in  both  countries,  and  probably  always  will 
be  used.  A  better  selection  has  never  been  made  for  such  a  purpose, 
and  the  books  deserved  the  popularity  which  they  enjoyed.  They 
cannot  adequately  represent  English  literature  at  this  day,  for  many 
of  the  best  things  which  exist  in  the  language  were  not  yet  written 
when  Murray's  compilations  were  made.  But  up  to  the  year  1800, 
these  Readers  contain  the  very  marrow  and  fatness  of  what  English 
literature  had  to  give. 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.   135 
IV.    THEOLOGICAL  WRITERS. 

The  Wesleys. 

John  Wesley,  1703-1791,  and  Charles  Wesley,  1708-1788,  are  dis- 
tinguished as  the  founders  of  Methodism,  the  greatest  religious  move- 
ment since  the  Eeformation.  In  their  labors  in  England  and  elsewhere, 
the  work  of  organization  and  management  fell  upon  John,  whose 
talents  for  administration  have  rarely  been  equalled.  Charles  was  a 
zealous  and  efficient  preacher,  but  is  especially  noted  as  a  hymnist. 

A  vein  of  poetry  seems  to  have  run  through  all  the  members  of 
this  remarkable  family.  The  father,  Samuel,  wrote  several  volumes 
of  poetry  on  religious  subjects.  Even  John,  in  the  midst  of  his  over- 
whelming cares  and  labors,  wrote  many  hymns,  some  of  them  excel- 
lent. Samuel,  another  brother,  published  a  volume  of  poems.  But 
in  Charles,  the  associate  of  John  in  the  great  work  of  founding  Meth- 
odism, this  kind  of  faculty  was  developed  to  an  extraordinary  degree, 
and  he  turned  it  to  excellent  account  in  the  work  in  which  they  were 
both  engaged.  The  Hymns  of  Charles  Wesley  were  a  great  help  to 
John  in  giving  form  and  expression  to  the  new  religious  movement. 
No  man  has  written  so  many  hymns  as  Charles  Wesley,  and  no  one 
has  written  so  many  that  have  obtained  general  acceptance.  As  a  lit- 
erary monument,  they  are  worthy  to  be  placed  beside  the  other  great 
productions  of  genius. 

John  Wesley  lived  to  his  eighty-eighth  year,  and  continued  his  life 
of  incessant  ministerial  labors  to  the  last,  —  travelling,  preaching,  and 
writing.  It  is  said  that  during  his  ministry  of  fifty-three  years,  he 
travelled  225,000  miles,  a  great  part  of  it  on  horseback,  and  preached 
more  than  40,000  sermons.  His  printed  works,  as  published  immedi- 
ately after  his  death,  filled  32  vols.,  Svo.  A  later  edition,  revised  and 
condensed,  is  in  14  vols.,  Svo.  It  is  impossible,  in  a  work  like  the 
present,  to  particularize  in  regard  to  this  great  man.  He  wrote,  as 
occasion  required,  on  almost  every  topic  growing  out  of  the  exigencies 
of  a  new  religious  community,  —  expository,  hortatory,  controversial, 
—  and  although  no  one  work  of  his  stands  out  as  a  special  monument 
of  genius,  few  men  have  left  upon  the  minds  of  their  race  so  strong 
and  abiding  an  impression  of  their  own  individuality. 

Whitefield. 

George  Whitefield,  1714-1770,  was  the  founder  of  the  Calvinistic 
branch  of  the  Methodists,  and  was  the  greatest  preacher  of  his  day,  if 
not  the  greatest  uninspired  preacher  of  all  time.     The  accounts  given 


136  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

of  the  effects  of  Whitefield's  eloquence  border  on  the  marvellous,  and 
would  be  set  down  to  credulity,  were  they  not  authenticated  by  so 
many  and  such  unimpeachable  witnesses.  That  these  effects  were  in 
a  great  measure  the  fruits  of  mere  oratory, — of  voice,  tone,  and  ges- 
ture, —  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  his-published  sermons  are  decid- 
edly commonplace,  giving  the  reader  no  idea  of  unusual  power  or 
eloquence.  Whitefield's  Works  and  Life  have  been  published  in  7 
vols.,  8vo.    The  contents  consist  of  Letters,  Journals,  and  Sermons. 

Toplady. 

Augustus  M.  Toplady,  1740-1778,  was  one  of  the  ultra  Calvinists 
of  the  English  Church,  and  was  noted  for  his  assaults  upon  John  Wes- 
ley on  points  of  doctrine.  Besides  these  controversial  writings,  Top- 
lady was  the  author  of  a  large  number  of  Hymns,  many  of  them  of 
great  excellence.  Some  of  Toplady's  Hymns  are  found  in  nearly 
every  collection.  The  hymn,  Rock  of  Ages,  the  best  probably  in  the 
language,  will  keep  his  memory  fresh  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian 
Church  long  after  his  sharp  controversial  essays  are  forgotten. 

MeKnight. 

James  MeKnight,  1721-1800,  is  celebrated  as  a  Commentator  and  as 
a  Harmonist.  MeKnight  is  known  chiefly  by  two  works,  each  a  mon- 
ument of  laborious  diligence  and  scholarship.  The  first  was  a  Har- 
mony of  the  Four  Gospels,  in  which  the  natural  order  of  each  is  pre- 
served, with  a  paraphrase  and  notes,  McKnight's  Harmony  is  one  of 
the  standard  works  in  the  literature  of  the  subject.  His  other  great 
work,  on  which  he  spent,  it  is  said,  nearly  thirty  years,  is  a  New  Lit- 
erar Translation  from  the  Original  Greek  of  All  the  Apostolical  Epis- 
tles, witli  a  Commentary  and  Notes,  philological,  critical,  explanatory, 
and  practical,  4  vols.,  4to.  MeKnight  on  the  Epistles  is  also  one  of  the 
standard  works  which  every  theologian  wishes  to  have  in  his  library. 
Neither  of  these  works  is  exhaustive  or  final.  The  science  of  her- 
meneutics  has  made  great  advances  since  McKnight's  day.  Yet  they 
are  works  of  great  ability  and  of  original  research,  and  no  interpreter 
even  now  can  safely  pass  them  by  as  superseded. 

Milner. 

Joseph  Milner,  1744-1797,  a  learned  scholar  and  divine  of  the 
English  Church,  besides  several  works  of  less  importance,  published  A 
History  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  5  vols.,  8vo,  which  has  been  often 
printed,  and  which  has  led  to  much  discussion. 


COWPER    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.     137 


Ne>Areome. 

William  Newcome,  D.  D.,  1729-1800,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  in 
Ireland,  is  well  known  by  his  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  and  by  his 
various  writings  on  the  subject  of  a  new  revision  of  the  English  version 
of  the  Scriptures. 

Watson. 

Kichard  Watson,  D.  D.,  1737-1816,  a  learned  Bishop  and  theolo- 
gian of  the  Church  of  England,  is  known  chiefly  by  an  Apology  for 
Christianity,  in  reply  to  Gibbon,  and  an  Apology  for  the  Bible,  in  re- 
ply to  Paine.  He  published  also  a  collection  of  Theological  Tracts, 
6  vols.,  8vo,  selected  from  various  authors,  and  intended  for  the  use  of 
theological  students.  Watson's  Theological  Tracts  have  an  excellent 
name,  and  have  had  an  extensive  circulation. 
12* 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(1800-1830.) 

The  chief  public  events  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  cen- 
tury were  the  Napoleonic  wars,  and  the  political  settlements  which 
followed  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  and  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons 
to  the  throne  of  France.  No  English  writer  during  this  period  filled 
so  large  a  space  in  the  public  mind  as  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

The  writers  of  this  period  may  be  divided  into  six  sections:  1.  The 
Poets,  beginning  with  Byron ;  2.  The  Novelists,  beginning  with  Scott ; 
3.  The  Reviewers  and  Political  Writers,  beginning  with  Gifibrd ;  4. 
Philosophical  and  Scientific  Writers,  beginning  with  Dugald  Stewart ; 
5.  Religious  and  Theological  Writers,  beginning  with  Scott  the  Com- 
mentator ;  6.  Miscellaneous  Writers,  beginning  with  Mrs.  Barbauld. 

I.    THE   POETS. 

Byron. 

George  Gordon,  Lord  Byron,  1788-1824,  was,  on  the  whole,  the 
greatest  English  poet  of  his  day,  although  he  had  many  illustrious 
competitors.  His  poems  are  indeed  very  unequal,  and  abound  in  pas- 
sages open  to  criticism.  At  the  same  time,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  amount  which  he  wrote  was  large.  If  he  often  falls  below  the 
standard,  and  much  that  he  has  written  could  well  be  spared,  a  large 
amount  still  remains  that  is  of  a  very  high  order  of  poetry,  and  there 
are  passages  in  his  works  that  are  unsurpassed  by  anything  in  the  lan- 
guage, except  in  the  writings  of  Shakespeare. 

138 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPOR  AEIES.      139 

Probably  no  English  poet  that  has  ever  lived  was  so  much  read, 
quoted,  and  canvassed,  during  his  lifetime,  as  Lord  Byron.  Everything. 
in  his  social  position,  in  his  personal  history  and  character,  and  in  the 
character  of  his  writings,  seemed  to  contribute  to  this  result.  He  was 
of  noble  family,  though  his  estate  had  been  impoverished  by  spend- 
thrift and  prodigal  ancestors.  In  person,  though  not  faultless,  he  had 
yet  such  attractions  of  form  and  features  and  voice  as  amounted  almost 
to  a  fascination.  His  talents,  if  not  of  the  very  highest  order,  were 
yet  wonderful,  and  were  precisely  of  the  kind  that  dazzle  and  bewilder. 
Byron's  first  attempt  at  authorship  led  to  an  issue  at  arms  with  the 
highest  critical  authority  then  known,  the  Edinburgh  Eeview,  and  by 
the  very  fierceness  of  the  attack  and  reply  brought  his  name  imme- 
diately to  every  one's  mouth.  His  marriage  only  led  to  an  open 
scandal,  the  mystery  of  which  is  not  even  yet  solved ;  and  by  the  high 
social  position  of  the  parties  caused  every  utterance  of  the  poet  to  be 
watched  and  analyzed.  In  addition  to  these  things,  the  peculiar  and 
irregular  style  of  his  lordship's  writings,  as  well  as  of  his  life,  caused 
everything  to  be  in  request  that  came  from  his  pen. 

Byrojj's  first  publication,  issued  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  was  Hours 
of  Idleness.  It  contained  little  worthy  of  notice,  and  it  might  have 
passed  quietly  into  oblivion  but  for  tlie  ferocious  criticism  upon  it  by 
the  Edinburgh  Eeview,  then  at  the  height  of  its  power.  Byron  was 
furious,  and  under  the  impulse  of  his  first  burst  of  passion,  he  wrote, 
almost  at  white  heat,  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers,  in  which 
he  slashed  away,  right  and  left,  witli  great  injustice,  but  with  a  degree 
of  daring  and  vigor  that  gained  for  him  at  once  the  public  ear  and 
sympathy.  He  afterwards  condemned  his  youthful  poems  as  heartily 
as  the  Reviewer  had  done.  He  also  acknowledged  the  injustice  of  his 
invective.  But  the  affair  gave  him  instant  notoriety.  It  awakened 
him  also  to  a  consciousness  of  his  powers. 

Soon  after  this  affair,  Byron  travelled  on  the  continent,  and  gave  the 
result  of  his  observations  in  the  first  portion  of  his  next  and  greatest 
poem,  Childe  Harold.  If  the  first  publication  made  him  notorious, 
this  made  him  famous. 

Returning  home,  he  entered  Parliament,  and  took  some  part  in 
public  affairs.  He  was  also  married  to  Miss  Millbanke,  a  lady  of  for- 
tune ;  but  after  living  together  for  a  few  months,  they  separated,  for 
reasons  admitted  to  be  not  creditable  to  him,  though  never  clearly 
divulged.  Lord  Byron  after  this  left  England  never  to  return.  His 
remaining  days  were  spent  in  Switzerland,  Italy,  and  Greece,  and  he 
died  in  the  noble  efibrt  to  aid  the  Greeks  in  their  struggle  for  in- 
dependence. 


140  ENGLISH     LITEKATURE. 

Some  of  his  other  works,  produced  mostly  during  the  irregular  life 
that  he  led  on  the  continent,  were  Sardanapalus,  a  Tragedy ;  Cain,  a 
Mystery ;  The  Vision  of  Judgment ;  Don  Juan ;  The  Prisoner  of 
Chillon  ;  The  Bride  of  Abydos ;  The  Dream ;  Mazeppa  ;  The  Corsair ; 
The  Siege  of  Corinth ;  Lara ;  Parisina,  etc.  The  Memoirs  of  him  by 
Moore  must  also  be  considered  in  giving  an  account  of  Byron's  works, 
as  these  Memoirs  are  made  up  to  a  great  extent  of  his  own  Letters. 

Byron  has  so  identified  himself  with  his  works  that  the  two  must 
be  estimated  together ;  and  the  settled  judgment  of  the  world  is  that 
he  was  a  bad  man.  He  had  many  shining  and  some  noble  qualities ; 
but  he  was  a  selfish  libertine,  both  in  his  life  and  opinions,  and  he 
deserves  the  neglect  towards  which  he  is  slowly  but  surely  gravitating. 

Moore. 

Thomas  Moore,  1779-1852,  survived  most  of  the  writers  who  were 
his  contemporaries,  but  his  chief  works  were  written  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century.  Although  he  lived  till  1852,  he  is  associated  in  his- 
tory with  Byron,  Shelley,  Southey,  and  the  men  of  their  time. 

His  most  important  works  are  LalJa  Rookh,  a  long  poem,  bounded 
on  eastern  legend  and  gorgeous  with  oriental  imagery,  and  his  Irish 
Melodies.     The  last-named  are  unquestionably  his  best. 

Few  poets  have  been  more  successful  than  Moore,  and  this  success 
is  due,  in  part,  to  the  consistency  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to 
one  style  of  poetry.  He  never  sufiered  himself  to  be  tempted  by  am- 
bition into  writing  on  grand  themes,  for  which  he  felt  himself  unfitted. 
His  verses  are  the  smoothest  and  softest  in  the  language,  and  never 
rise  above  the  level  of  average  sentiment.  Even  his  Irish  Melodies, 
which  profess  to  give  the  spirit  of  the  Irish  people,  are  anything  but 
true  folk-songs.  They  have  not  the  intensity  and  abruptness  of  pas- 
sion characteristic  of  that  kind  of  verse.  Moore  is  always  graceful 
in  his  imagery,  but  never  sublime ;  emotional,  but  not  impassioned. 
The  licentiousness  which  disfigured  his  earlier  works  disappeared  in 
the  later  ones.  Still,  even  at  his  best,  Moore  is  not  a  grand  lyric  poet. 
He  is  merely  a  singer  of  sweet  verse. 

Shelley. 

Percy  Bysshe  Shelley,  1792-1822,  was  a  poet  of  great  and  original 
genius,  whose  career  was  in  many  respects  like  that  of  Byron,  with 
whom  indeed  he  was  intimately  associated. 

While  a  student  at  Oxford  Shelley  printed,  in  London,  a  pamphlet 
headed  A  Defence  of  Atheism.    It  was  intended,  as  he  afterwards 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPOK ARIES.      141 

asserted,  merely  as  a  sort  of  dialectic  challenge,  probably  after  the 
fashion  of  the  scholastics  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Had  he  been  content 
with  merely  publishing  the  pamphlet,  the  matter  might  have  been 
ignored.  But,  in  his  youthful  enthusiasm,  he  pressed  himself  so  con- 
spicuously and  so  persistently  upon  the  attention  of  the  University 
authorities,  that  they  were  forced  to  expel  him  publicly,  as  an  atheist. 

A  few  months  afterwards  he  made  a  runaway  match  with  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  retired  hoj.el-keeper.  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
much  love  on  Shelley's  part.  Before  the  end  of  three  years  they  were 
separated.  Two.  years  after  the  separation  (1816)  Mrs.  Shelley  com- 
mitted suicide  by  drowning.  Soon  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife, 
Shelley  married  Mary  Wollstonecraft  Godwin,  with  whom  he  had  been 
travelling  on  the  continent.  In  1818  he  left  England  never  to  see  it 
again.  The  remaining  four  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  Italy, 
during  a  part  of  which  time  he  was  very  intimate  with  Byron.  On 
June  30,  1822,  he  was  drowned  by  the  upsetting  of  a  boat  in  the  Bay 
of  Spezzia.  His  body  was  washed  ashore,  and,  in  accordance  with  the 
Tuscan  quarantine  law  then  prevailing,  was  burned  by  the  authorities. 
The  ashes  were  deposited  in  Home. 

His  earliest  work  of  note.  Queen  Mab,  published  in  1813,  is  little 
more  than  a  treatise  in  defence  of  Atheism,  full  of  conceits,  and  offer- 
ing occasionally  fine  passages.  The  best  of  his  long  poems  are  the 
Prometheus  Unbound,  and  the  Adonais,  or  Elegy  on  Keats.  Some  of 
his  minor  poems  are  surpassingly  beautiful. 

'  Keats. 

John  Keats,  1796-1821,  was  a  poet  of  great  promise,  who  died  be- 
fore reaching  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers.  His  principal  poems 
are  Endymion,  Hyperion,  and  the  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 

Kirke  White. 

Henry  Kirke  White,  1785-1806,  gave  in  very  early  life  evidence 
of  poetical  genius,  but  died  before  accomplishing  anything  of  perma- 
nent value.  White's  place  is  among  those  poets  who  attract  us  more 
through  sympathy  with  their  adverse  fate  than  by  the  intrinsic  value 
of  their  productions.  His  poems  unquestionably  possess  merit,  but 
not  such  merit  as  entitles  the  poet  to  rank  in  the  first  or  even  the 
second  class.  His  verses  are  rather  plaintive  and  agreeable  than  vig- 
orous. The  best  known  of  them  are :  The  Star  of  Bethlehem,  To  an 
Early  Primrose,  Song  of  the  Consumptive,  Savoyard's  Return,  etc. 


142  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Campbell. 

Thomas  Campbell,  1777-1844,  has  an  honored  place  among  the 
fixed  stars  of  the  poetical  firmament.  His  poems  are  not  so  consider- 
able in  amount  as  those  of  some  other  writers.  But  there  is  an  excel- 
lence and  finish  in  all  that  he  did  write  that  secures  for  him  a  perma- 
nent place  in  letters. 

Campbell  was  born  and  educated  in  Glasgow,  and  was  early  distin- 
guished for  his  proficiency  in  classical  studies.  His  first  publication, 
the  Pleasures  of  Hope,  at  once  gave  him  rank  as  a  poet  of  mark. 
Being  on  a  visit  to  the  continent,  he  was  a  spectator  of  the  battle  of 
Hohenlinden,  and  commemorated  the  scene  in  the  brilliant  poem  with 
which  we  are  all  familiar.  While  abroad,  he  wrote  two  other  of  his 
most  popular  lyrics.  Ye  Mariners  of  England,  and  The  Exile  of  Erin. 
On  returning  to  Scotland,  he  wrote  Lochiel's  Warning ;  subsequently 
appeared  Gertrude  of  Wyoming ;  The  Battle  of  the  Baltic ;  The  Pil- 
grim of  Glencoe,  and  other  Poems. 

As  a  lyric  and  didactic  poet,  Campbell  has  few  superiors  in  English 
literature.     Some  of  his  poems  seem  absolutely  perfect. 

Rogers. 

Samuel  Kogers,  1763-1855,  the  banker,  poet,  art  collector,  and  giver 
of  breakfasts,  is  as  well  known  by  his  Pleasures  of  Memory  as  is 
Campbell  by  the  Pleasures  of  Hope. 

Kogers  was  the  son  of  a  banker,  and  inherited,  with  his  younger 
brother,  a  profitable  business,  from  the  active  management  of  which 
he  retired  when  little  more  than  thirty.  The  remaining  sixty  years 
of  his  protracted  life  were  passed  in  the  cultivation  of  letters,  the  arts, 
and  society.  He  gathered  around  his  social  board  all  that  was  genial 
and  distinguished  in  each  successive  generation.  Like  Henry  Crabb 
Robinson,  he  remained  a  bachelor.  Indeed,  there  is  throughout  the 
lives  of  both  a  striking  parallelism.  There  is,  however,  this  difierence, 
that  Rogers  is  known  chiefly  by  his  original  works,  Robinson  by  his 
diary. 

Although  Rogers  lived  almost  to  our  day,  his  works  belong  to  a 
former  generation.  His  Pleasures  of  Memory  appeared  in  1792,  and 
Italy,  his  greatest  work,  in  1823. 

Rogers  is  a  finished  versifier,  and  his  lines  betray  a  cultured  mind. 
Especially  in  his  Italy  does  he  show  himself  to  be  a  man  of  great 
liberality  in  his  judgments  of  what  might  have  been  distasteful  to 
him  as  an  Englishman  and  a  Protestant.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  has  exercised  a  wholesome  influence,  indirectly,  upon  the 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      143 

development  of  English  literature,  by  widening  tlie  range  of  its  sym- 
pathies and  its  culture.  When  we  compare  him,  however,  with  his 
great  contemporaries,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Shelley,  Coleridge,  we 
can  scarcely  fail  to  perceive  that  he  was  lacking  in  real  poetic  inspi- 
ration. 

Southey. 

Robert  Southey,  1774-1843,  was  another  of  the  great  literary  celeb- 
rities in  the  earlier  part  of  the  present  century.  His  fame  and  for- 
tunes are  intimately  associated  with  those  of  Coleridge  and  Words- 
worth. He  was  not  equal  to  either  of  them  in  genius,  but  he  had 
abilities  of  a  high  order.  He  was  methodical  and  unwearied  in 
labor,  and  he  made  himself,  while  he  lived,  a  magnate  in  the  world 
of  letters. 

Southey' s  early  career  was  in  striking  contrast  with  the  latter  part 
of  his  life.  At  Westminster  School,  he  was  expelled  for  a  satire  on 
corporal  punishment.  At  Oxford,  he  became  an  ultra  radical  in 
politics  and  a  Unitarian  in  religion.  Soon  afterwards  he  formed,  with 
Coleridge,  the  plan  of  founding  a  "  pantisocracy "  in  Pennsylvania, 
but,  as  neither  of  them  had  any  money,  the  plan  was  abandoned. 
After  essaying  the  law,  and  one  or  two  other  projects,  he  finally  set- 
tled down  to  literary  occupation.  The  once  enthusiastic  radical  and 
Unitarian  now  became  the  staunch  supporter  of  Church  and  State. 
He  fixed  his  residence,  in  1803,  at  Greta  Hall,  not  far  from  Words- 
worth, in  that  lovely  region  which  has  become  famous  under  the 
name  of  the  *'  lake  district "  of  England.  Here,  in  literary  labor  and 
seclusion,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Southey's  works  are  extremely  voluminous,  both  in  prose  and 
verse,  and  cover  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  Southey  the  poet,  so 
famous  in  his  day,  and  ranked  with  Wordsworth,  Byron,  Scott,  and 
Coleridge,  is  now  comparatively  ignored.  His  extravagance  and 
want  of  naturalness  are  repugnant  to  the  tastes  of  this  realistic  age. 
His  poems  abound  indeed  in  beautiful  and  striking  passages,  but  are 
faulty  in  conception  and  tedious  in  execution.  Some  of  his  prose 
works,  on  the  contrary,  such  as  the  Life  of  Nelson  and  the  Life  of 
Wesley,  will  always  rank  among  English  prose  classics. 

Southey,  Coleridge,  and  Wordsworth  were  grouped  together,  under 
the  title  of  "  The  Lake  Poets,"  by  the  Edinburgh  Review.  In  one 
sense,  the  epithet  had  some  foundation,  for  they  all  lived  near  each 
other,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Lake  region  of  England.  But  if  in- 
tended to  mark  a  school  of  poetry,  the  term  was  a  complete  mis- 
nomer.   It  would  be  impossible  to  find  in  English  history  any  other 


144  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

three  contemporaries  that  have  so  few  features  in  common,  or  who 
have  borrowed  so  little  inspiration  one  from  the  other. 

Coleridge. 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  1772-1834,  was,  of  all  the  contemporary 
writers,  the  man  most  endowed  by  nature  with  genius.  But  the  fit- 
ful and  irregular  character  of  his  mental  action  prevented  his  accom- 
plishing any  great  and  completed  work  commensurate  with  his 
acknowledged  genius.  His  poetic  fame  rests  on  two  poems,  both  of 
singular,  almost  supernatural  power ;  yet  one,  Christabel,  is  only  a 
fragment,  the  other.  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  more  nearly 
complete  in  itself,  is  only  a  part  of  an  incompleted  whole.  The  like 
is  true  of  his  prose  writings, —  they  are,  at  the  best,  only  splendid 
fragments. 

Coleridge  was  at  first  a  pupil  of  Christ  Hospital,  where  he  gained 
distinction  for  scholarship,  as  he  did  afterwards  when  a  student  at 
Cambridge.  But  being  disappointed  in  a  love-affair  while  at  the 
University,  he  left  the  place  without  graduation,  and  enlisted  by 
stealth  in  the  army. 

In  1794,  he  became  intimate  with  Southey.  Both  of  them  at  that 
time  were  ardent  republicans,  and  admirers  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. Both  also  were  Unitarians  in  religion.  Needy,  restless,  and 
full  of  the  spirit  of  adventure,  the  young  poets  devised  the  scheme 
already  named  of  emigrating  with  some  friends  to  America,  and 
there  founding  on  the  bank  of  the  Susquehanna  a  Utopian  republic, 
or  PantisGcracy,  the  distinguishing  feature  of  which  should  be  a 
community  of  goods.  Through  the  liberality  of  Josiah  and  Thomas 
Wedgewood,  the  well-known  potters,  Coleridge  was  enabled  in  1798 
to  go  to  Germany,  where  he  studied  with  great  diligence  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Gottingen.  On  returning  to  England,  he  settled  at  Kes- 
wick, in  the  Lake  District  of  Westmoreland,  where  also  Southey  and 
Wordsworth  resided.  A  few  years  later,  Coleridge  renounced  Uni- 
tarianism,  and  adopted  the  creed  of  the  Anglican  Church ;  he  made 
a  like  change  in  his  political  opinions,  having  become  disgusted  with 
the  excesses  of  the  French  Republicans.  Plis  habits  of  living  being 
irregular,  and  his  health  failing,  he  fell  into  the  way  of  taking  opium, 
which  added  greatly  to  his  ofher  infirmities,  and  made  him  for  years 
a  most  pitiable  spectacle.  He  was  rescued  from  this  condition,  how- 
ever, and  spent  his  declining  years  in  the  hospitable  refuge  of  a  gen- 
erous physician,  Dr.  Gilman,  of  London. 

The  universal  testimony  of  competent  judges  is,  that  Coleridge's 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      145 

natural  endowments  were  of  the  very  highest  order.  Method  and 
industry,  such  method  and  industry  as  mark  the  career  of  Tennyson, 
of  Milton,  and  of  Shakespeare,  would  have  made  him  the  equal,  pos- 
sibly the  superior,  of  any  of  these  great  men.  Even  from  the  desul- 
tory and  fitful  efforts  of  his  genius  which  remain,  he  must  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  great  men  of  all  time.  His  powers  as  a  conversationist, 
or  rather  as  a  talker,  for  he  did  not  converse,  have  probably  never 
been  equalled ;  and  had  there  been  a  Boswell  to  gather  up  all  these 
brilliant  sayings  which  fell  from  his  lips,  the  record  would  have 
been  of  inestimable  value.  Much  of  his  conversation  has  been 
preserved  in  the  Table-Talk,  published  after  his  decease.  But  we 
have  no  such  minute  report  as  that  which  Boswell  gave  of  l5r. 
Johnson. 

Works. — Coleridge's  works  are  chiefly  the  following:  The  Kime  of 
the  Ancient  Mariner ;  Christabel ;  Aids  to  Reflection ;  Lectures  on 
Shakespeare ;  Table-Talk ;  Biographia  Literaria. 

Joanna  Baillie. 

Joanna  Baillie,  1764-1851,  was  a  dramatist  of  great  celebrity,  con- 
temporary with  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Jefirey, 
Southey,  Byron,  and  Coleridge,  and  was  eminent  even  among  those 
great  names.  She  was  born  near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  but  spent  most 
of  her  life  and  achieved  her  principal  literary  successes  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  London. 

Her  dramas  were  published  under  the  title  of  Plays  on  the  Pas- 
sions, her  plan  being  to  make  each  passion  the  subject  of  two  plays,  a 
tragedy  and  a  comedy.  They  are  intended  rather  for  reading  than 
for  representation.  She  herself  did  not  frequent  the  theatre,  and  was 
not  familiar  with  its  arrangements.  As  reading  -  plays,  they  are 
accepted  by  the  highest  critical  authorities  as  among  the  grandest 
works  of  the  poetical  art.  » 

Mrs.  Hemans. 

Mrs.  Felicia  Dorothea  Hemans,  1794-1835,  was,  during  her  life,  a 
leading  favorite,  her  poems  being  read,  admired,  and  quoted  by  almost 
everybody,  and  on  almost  all  occasions. 

Mrs.  Hemans  was  a  native  of  Liverpool,  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Browne, 
a  merchant  of  that  city.  She  was  married  at  eighteen  to  Captain 
Hemans,  of  the  British  army.  The  union  was  not  a  happy  one,  and, 
after  living  together  for  six  years,  they  separated.  Captain  Hemans 
went  to  Italy  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  remained  there;  Mrs. 
13  K 


146  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Hemans  remained  at  home  to  rear  and  educate  the  five  sons  who  were 
the  fruits  of  their  ill-assorted  marriage.  It  redounds  to  her  honor 
certainly  that  these  domestic  infelicities  found  no  voice  in  her  sono-. 
She  bore  her  griefs  in  dignified  silence,  and  did  not,  like  Byron,  coin 
her  heart-pangs  into  marketable  verse. 

Mrs.  Hemans  wrote  no  long  poems,  but  a  large  number  of  occasional 
pieces,  and  at  the  time  of  her  death  was  an  almost  universal  favorite, 
both  in  England  and  America.  Even  Sir  Archibald  Alison  speaks  of 
her  as  a  rival  to  Coleridge !  But  her  reputation  has  been  steadily  on 
the  wane  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  The  truth  is,  she  wrote 
pleasing  things  with  infinite  prettiness,  but  she  had  no  true  creative 
genius. 

Elizabeth  Landon. 

Letitia  Elizabeth  Landon,  afterwards  Mrs.  Maclean,  and  generally 
known  as  L.  E.  L.,  1802-1838,  was  one  of  the  literary  celebrities  in 
the  early  part  of  this  century.  She  was  a  native  of  London,  and 
daughter  of  Dr.  Landon,  Dean  of  Exeter.  In  1838,  she  was  married 
to  Mr.  George  Maclean,  Governor  of  Cape  Coast  Castle,  and  sailed  for 
her  new  home.  There,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  she  died  from  an 
accidental  overdose  of  prussic  acid,  —  an  article  which  she  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  taking  for  hysteric  affections. 

Miss  Landon  had  attained  a  high  reputation,  especially  by  her  poetry, 
and  was  at  the  time  of  her  death  one  of  the  celebrities  of  the  literary 
world.  She  was  undoubtedly  a  woman  of  genius,  and  had  she  lived, 
she  might  have  achieved  substantial  and  permanent  greatness.  But 
her  works,  when  read  at  the  distance  of  thirty  or  forty  years  from  the 
time  of  their  composition,  and  apart  from  the  romantic  circumstances 
of  her  life,  do  not  confirm  the  judgment  of  her  contemporaries. 

Crabbe. 

George  Crabbe,  1754-1832,  is  the  poet  of  the  poor  and  the  lowly. 
Though  not  so  much  read  as  he  once  was,  he  still  holds  his  place  as  a 
favorite  with  the  public.  Crabbe  was  born  in  humble  circumstances, 
and  in  working  his  way  upward  encountered  many  hardships. 

The  first  poem  of  his  that  obtained  a  marked  success  was  The  Vil- 
lage. It  contained  vivid  descriptions  of  scenes  among  the  poor,  such 
as  he  himself  had  been  familiar  with,  and  it  was  instantly  and  thor- 
oughly popular.  After  that,  whatever  he  produced  was  in  demand. 
His  other  poems  are :  The  Parish  Register,  The  Borough,  Tales  in 
Verse,  and  Tales  of  the  Hall. 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      147 

The  chief  characteristic  of  his  poetry  is  the  extreme  accuracy  of  the 
descriptions,  and  his  partiality  for  subjects  which  are  in  themselves 
dull  and  even  forbidding.  He  was  undoubtedly  a  poet  of  great  power 
and  even,  at  times,  of  tenderness,  but  his  pathos  is  usually  linked  to 
something  coarse  and  humiliating.  The  reader  is  affected,  but  he  is 
not  drawn  to  read  a  second  time. 

Heber. 

Eeginald  Heber,  D.D.,  1783-182G,  is  justly  celebrated  for  his  noble 
work  as  a  missionary  Bishop  in  India,  and  for  his  missionary  hymn, 
"From  Greenland's  icy  mountains." 

Heber  was  educated  at  Oxford,  where  he  was  distinguished  for  his 
classical  scholarship,  and  for  the  elegance  of  his  English  style.  His 
learning,  accomplishinents,  and  genius  would  have  insured  him  high 
preferment  in  the  church,  had  he  remained  at  home.  In  accepting  the 
Bishopric  at  Calcutta,  he  was  influenced  by  the  true  self-denying  spirit 
of  a  Christian  minister,  and  he  entered  upon  its  duties  with  the  great- 
est zeal.     He  died  in  India,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-three. 

His  principal  works  are :  Palestine,  a  Poem,  which  gained  a  prize 
at  Oxford,  while  the  author  was  a  student  there ;  Hymns,  adapted  to 
the  Weekly  Church  Service  ;  and  A  Journey  through  India,  2  vols. 

Bishop  Heber  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  scholarly 
divines  that  the  Church  of  England  has  produced  in  modern  times. 
His  one  Missionary  Hymn,  however,  will  survive  all  else  that  he  wrote 
or  did,  and  will  carry  his  memory  to  the  latest  generation. 

Hogg. 

James  Hogg,  1770-1835,  is  known  as  "  The  Ettrick  Shepherd."  He 
was  born  in  a  cottage  on  the  banks  of  the  Ettrick  Elver  in  Selkirkshire, 
Scotland,  and  passed  his  early  life  as  a  shepherd.  His  most  celebrated 
work  was  the  Queen's  Wake,  a  collection  of  ballads. 

Like  Burns,  Hogg  was  at  one  time  the  lion  of  Scotch  society.  The 
latter  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  rustic  retirement.  Hogg's  poetry 
has  received  its  full  measure  of  praise,  and  although  no  longer  the 
fashion,  is  still  much  read.  The  poems  are  by  no  means  equal  in  exe- 
cution, but  those  that  are  good  are  very  good  —  the  sparkling  emana- 
tions of  a  pure  poetic  fancy. 

Bloomfield. 
Eobert  Bloomfield,  1766-1823,  an  unlettered   shoemaker,   while 
working  in  a  garret  with  six  or  seven  others,  composed  a  poem,  the 


148  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Farmer's  Boy,  which  set  all  England  ablaze,  and  made  its  author,  for 
the  time,  "  the  observed  of  all  observers."  In  three  years,  twenty-six 
thousand  copies  of  the  Farmer's  Boy  were  sold,  —  an  enormous  sale 
for  those  days, —  and  the  book  was  reprinted  on  the  continent,  besides 
being  translated  into  French,  Italian,  and  Latin.  The  whole  of  this 
poem  was  composed  in  the  author's  head  and  completed,  before  a  line 
of  it  was  written. 

Bloomfield  is  not  much  read  now.  The  quiet  scenes  of  country  life 
which  he  describes  are  too  tame  to  suit  the  present  taste.  Besides,  the 
universal  and  romantic  circumstances  attending  his  introduction  to 
the  literary  world  led  naturally,  for  a  time,  to  an  exaggerated  estimate. 
His  work  was  compared,  not  with  the  great  works  of  all  time,  but  with 
what  might  be  expected  from  a  poor,  uneducated  laborer,  working  in 
his  garret  in  the  daily  toil  and  struggle  for  bread. 

Pollok. 

Robert  Pollok,  1799-1827,  acquired  for  a  time  a  prodigious  reputa- 
tion by  his  poem,  the  Course  of  Time.  Pollok  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land. He  studied  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and  was  about  enter- 
ing the  ministry  when  cut  down  by  disease,  brought  on  by  excessive 
study.  His  poem  was  at  one  time  a  great  favorite,  and  is  still  read  and 
admired  by  many.  The  commonly  received  opinion  is,  that  it  has 
many  good  and  even  brilliant  passages,  but  that,  as  a  whole,  it  is  weak 
in  conception,  and  weak  in  execution.  It  is  the  work  of  an  immature 
mind.  In  passing  judgment  upon  the  Course  of  Time,  however,  it 
should  be  kept  in  mind  that  its  author  died  before  reaching  maturity. 
For  one  of  his  age  it  is  certainly  a  remarkable  production,  leaving  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader  a  deep  regret  that  the  author  could  not  have 
attained  to  full  development. 

II.     THE   NOVELISTS. 

Sir  Walter  Seott. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  1771-1832,  after  placing  himself  among  the  fore- 
most writers  of  his  day  as  a  poet,  outstripped  both  himself  and  them 
by  his  unbounded  success  as  a  novelist.  Even  as  a  very  young  boy, 
Scott  was  noted  for  his  ability  as  a  story-teller.  In  the  High-School, 
and  at  the  University,  he  was  the  idol  of  a  select  circle,  who  gathered 
around  him  in  recess  hours,  to  listen  delighted  to  his  improvisations. 

His  three  great  poems  were  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  1805, 
Marmion,  1808,  and  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  1810.  In  five  years,  he 
had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  generation. 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.        149 

We  of  the  present  day,  with  our  tardy  and  carefully  discriminating 
appreciation,  find  it  difficult  to  realize  the  unbounded  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  men  and  women  of  fifty  years  ago  read,  or  rather  devoured 
these  poems.  The  author's  pecuniary  profits  from  the  sale  of  his  poems 
were  equal  to  his  literary  laurels.  He  purchased  Abbotsford,  near 
Melrose  Abbey,  and  spent  immense  sums  upon  the  estate,  in  the  effort 
to  convert  it  into  a  magnificent  baronial  mansion  of  the  old  style. 
Living  here  in  princely  style,  he  made  Abbotsford  famous  throughout 
the  literary  world,  a  synonym  for  lavish  hospitality  and  fraternal  re- 
union. To  Abbotsford  betook  itself  year  after  year  all  that  was 
famous  in  art,  literature,  and  science.  Men  of  every  country  and 
profession  were  welcomed  to  its  hospitable  walls,  and  peer,  prelate, 
and  aspirant  after  fame  came  and  went  in  ceaseless  succession. 

Meanwhile  the  great  wizard  himself,  the  spell  that  kept  together 
this  gay  concourse,  was  not  resting  on  his  laurels.  In  1814  appeared, 
anonymously,  Waverly,  the  first  of  the  magnificent  series  of  novels 
which  goes  by  that  name.  The  authorship  was  immediately  ascribed 
to  Scott,  but  persistently  repudiated.  In  quick  succession  came  Guy 
Mannering,  the  Antiquary,  Old  Mortality,  Kob  Eoy,  the  Heart  of 
Midlothian,  the  Bride  of  Lammermoor,  year  by  year  one  or  more, 
until  the  secret  could  no  longer  be  kept,  and  it  was  proclaimed  to  the 
world  that  Scotland's  greatest  poet  was  also  the  greatest  novelist  of 
his  age. 

But  the  picture  was  soon  to  have  its  dark  side.  In  1826  Constable, 
and  the  Ballantynes,  both  large  publishing  firms,  failed  disastrously. 
Scott,  who  had  been  for  some  time  a  secret  partner,  was  involved  in 
the  ruin,  and  was  liable  for  their  joint  debts,  amounting  to  over  half  a 
million  of  dollars.  With  heroic  courage  he  gave  up  his  estate  at 
Abbotsford  in  part-payment,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to 
writing  himself  out  of  debt.  He  succeeded,  but  the  effort  cost  him  his 
life.  Not  suffering  himself  .to  be  interrupted  even  by  the  death  of  his 
beloved  wife,  in  1826,  or  by  repeated  attacks  of  ill  health,  he  produced 
volume  after  volume  —  the  conclusion  of  the  Waverly  series,  the  His- 
tory of  Napoleon,  and  the  Tales  of  a  Grandfather  —  until  he  sank  into 
the  grave,  an  overworn  but  not  a  broken-hearted  man.  His  funeral 
was  unostentatious,  but  the  procession  was  over  a  mile  long,  and  all 
Scotland  and  England  sent  its  mourners. 

No  purely  literary  character  was  ever  the  recipient  of  greater  spon- 
taneous honor,  in  life  and  in  death,  than  Sir  Walter  Scott.  In  the 
year  1871,  the  centennial  anniversary  of  his  birth  was  celebrated  with 
an  outburst  of  enthusiasm  which  carried  the  present  generation  back 
to  the  days  of  Marmion  and  Waverly. 
13* 


150  ENGLISH     LITERATURE. 

In  estimating  Scott's  genius,  we  should  be  careful  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  poet  and  the  novelist.  As  a  poet,  Scott  is  only  in  the  second 
class.  He  is  far  surpassed  in  imagination  by  Tennyson,  Browning,  and 
Longfellow;  in  power  and  breadth  of  conception,  by  Byron.  His 
Murmion  and  Lady  of  the  Lake  are  not  great  creations.  Yet  their 
diction  is  so  spirited,  their  fundamental  conceptions  are  so  pure  and 
cheerful,  they  suggest  such  a  glamour  of  forest  and  mountain,  lake  and 
heather,  that  they  will  ever  remain  among  the  most  delightful  gems  of 
the  great  English  treasure-house.  On  the  other  hand,  as  a  novelist, 
and  a  delineator  of  character,  he  is  unsurpassed.  It  is  the  fashion, 
among  writers  of  a  certain  class,  to  speak  of  Scott  as  superseded  by 
Thackeray  and  Dickens.  In  a  measure  this  is  true ;  every  writer,  no 
matter  how  great,  is  crowded  out  more  or  less  by  his  successors.  Not 
even  Shakespeare,  Dante,  and  Goethe  have  been  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
But  it  may  well  be  pondered,  whether,  years  from  now,  when  the  final 
muster-roll  of  English  novelists  is  called,  Scott's  name  will  not  head 
the  list  —  whether  Meg  Merrilies,  Jeannie  Deans,  Caleb  Balderstone, 
Domine  Sampson,  Rebecca  of  York,  Dirck  Hatterick,  Dandle  Din- 
mont.  Flora  Mac  Ivor,  Rob  Roy,  Dugald  Dalgetty,  will  not  shine,  like 
the  older  windows  of  the  cathedral  at  Cologne  in  the  evening  twilight, 
clear  and  unfaded,  while  their  younger  and  ambitious  rivals,  even 
Becky  Sharpe,  Major  Pendennis,  Ethel  Newcome,  Sam  Weller,  Mrs. 
Gamp,  and  Mr.  Micawber,  will  appear  by  their  side  slightly  dimmed 
and  tarnished. 

Scott  is  nowhere  so  great  as  when  he  remains  on  his  native  heath. 
His  Scottish  novels  are  pre-eminently  his  best.  His  Tory  prejudices  and 
blindness  of  vision  have  passed  away  with  the  generation  to  which  they 
were  native,  and  there  remain  only  his  broad  love  of  humanity,  his  cheery 
smile  and  quaint  humor.  To  Scott  belongs  the  honor  of  lifting  the 
English  novel  from  the  dreary  depths  of  the  rakedom  and  sentimen- 
tality of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  placing  it  upon  the  lasting  foun- 
dations of  good  breeding,  good  morals,  and  good  sense,  from  which  no 
one  henceforth  can  depart  and  be  safe. 

Maria  Edge^vorth. 

Maria  Edgeworth,  1767-1849,  holds  a  high  rank  as  a  writer  of 
novels  and  tales,  and  of  works  on  education.  Miss  Edgeworth  was  the 
daughter  of  Richard  Lovell  Edgeworth.  Mr,  Edgeworth  was  himself 
a  man  of  letters,  and  an  author  of  celebrity,  particularly  in  works  on 
education.  Several  of  Maria's  works  were  written  in  conjunction  with 
her  father.     Those  written  by  herself  alone  are  chiefly  Novels  and 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.        151 

Tales.  They  are  descriptive  of  domestic  and  social  life,  and  are  so 
shaped  and  constructed  as  to  teach  the  doctrines  of  morals  and  educa- 
tion with  as  much  clearness  as  if  they  had  been  treatises  on  those  sub- 
jects, and  with  a  good  deal  more  efficiency  than  most  treatises.  For 
their  truthfulness  and  vividness  of  description,  and  their  skill  in  the 
delineation  of  character,  they  have  received  the  highest  encomiums 
from  all  classes  of  critics,  and  they  have  been  perused  with  unabated 
delight  by  several  generations  of  readers,  both  in  England  and  America. 
Young  and  old  alike  delight  in  Miss  Edge  worth's  Tales. 

Miss  Austen. 

Jane  Austen,  1775-1817,  was  the  author  of  several  novels  of  a  high 
order  of  merit.  Those  best  known  are  Pride  and  Prejudice,  Sense  and 
Sensibility.  Critics  of  the  highest  order  speak  of  Miss  Austen's  novels 
in  terms  of  strong  commendation.  Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  her  portraits 
of  society  are  far  superior  to  anything  of  a  like  nature  produced  by 
writers  of  the  other  sex. 

Jane  Porter. 

Miss  Jane  Porter,  1776-1850,  was  the  author  of  many  works,  some 
of  which  have  made  her  name  famous.  Two  of  these,  Thaddeus  of 
Warsaw,  and  Tlie  Scottish  Chiefs,  are  as  widely  known  as  any  books 
of  their  class  in  the  language.  They  are  read  by  every  school-boy 
and  school-girl  in  the  sentimental  period  of  life,  and  call  forth  a  peren- 
nial outburst  of  tears  or  enthusiasm.  Neither  work  is  distinguished 
for  historical  accuracy  or  profound  insight  into  human  nature.  Yet 
the  two  are  unique,  and  will  be  read  and  enjoyed  by  each  successive 
generation  of  youth  by  reason  of  their  sweet  style  and  sentiment. 

Lady  Blessington. 

Margaret,  Countess  of  Blessington,  1787-1849,  was  celebrated  in  her 
day  for  her  literary  abilities  and  her  personal  charms,  and  her  at- 
tractions in  both  respects  were  greatly  increased  by  her  high  social 
position.  Lady  Blessington  was  the  daughter  of  an  Irish  gentleman, 
Edmund  Power.  She  was  married,  first,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  Cap- 
tain Farmer  of  the  British  army,  and  afterwards,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one,  to  the  Earl  of  Blessington.  On  his  death.  Lady  Blessington,  then 
at  the  age  of  forty-two,  established  herself  in  London,  where  for  twenty 
years,  from  1829  to  1849,  her  house  was  the  centre  both  of  fashion  and 
of  letters,  for  a  large  and  brilliant  circle.     She  was  celebrated  equally 


152  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

for  her  beauty  and  her  wit ;  and  she  wrote  with  the  same  ease  and 
grace  with  which  she  talked.  Lord  Byron  was  a  great  admirer  of 
her,  and  one  of  her  most  charming  works  is  that  in  which  she  gives 
an  account  of  her  conversations  with  him. 


III.     REVIEWERS  AND  POLITICAL  WRITERS. 

Gifford. 

William  Gifford,  1756-1826,  obtained  distinction  in  various  walks 
of  authorship,  but  is  chiefly  known  by  his  labors  as  editor  of  the 
London  Quarterly  Review. 

Gifford' s  first  publication  was  the  Baviad,  a  poetical  satire,  published 
in  1794,  and  directed  against  various  second-class  writers  and  pre- 
tenders to  literature.  His  next  was  the  Mseviad,  1795,  likewise  a 
satire,  and  aimed  at  the  dramatists  of  the  day.  Both  poems  were  suc- 
cessful. In  1802,  he  published  a  translation  of  Juvenal,  which  has 
been  pronounced  on  good  authority  to  be  "  the  best  poetical  version 
of  a  classic  in  the  English  language."  He  performed  a  large  amount 
of  critical  work  in  editing  old  English  authors.  He  gave  critical  edi- 
tions of  Massinger,  4  vols.,  8vo. ;  Ben  Jonson,  9  vols.,  8vo. ;  Ford,  2 
vols.,  8vo. ;  Shirley,  6  vols.,  Svo. 

Gifford's  crowning  work,  however,  was  his  editorship  of  the  London 
Quarterly  Review,  from  1809,  the  time  of  its  inception,  to  1824.  Here 
he  reigned  supreme  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  and  his  reign  was  one 
of  terror.  He  was  a  man  of  great  acuteness  of  intellect,  coarse  and 
savage  in  disposition,  lynx-eyed  to  detect  blemishes,  and  relentless  in 
exposing  them,  yet  enjoying  a  large  measure  of  consideration  in  the 
literary  world  on  account  of  the  power  which  he  wielded  by  virtue  of 
his  editorial  position,  and  which  he  used  with  incessant  and  remorse- 
less activity. 

Mackintosh. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  1765-1832,  obtained  great  and  deserved 
celebrity  as  a  writer  on  subjects  connected  with  statesmanship  and 
national  polity.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland ;  was  educated  at  Aber- 
deen, and  afterwards  studied  medicine  at  Edinburgh  ;  abandoned  the 
profession  for  the  law ;  held  the  posts  of  recorder  and  admiralty  judge 
under  the  East  India  Company ;  returned  to  England  and  was  elected 
to  Parliament ;  afterwards  occupied  the  chair  of  politics  and  history 
in  the  College  at  Haylebury. 

Mackintosh's  principal  works  were  a  Dissertation  on  the  Progress 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.        153 

of  Ethical  Philosophy,  Lectures  on  the  Law  of  Nature  and  of  Nations, 
and  a  History  of  England  (not  finished).  He  wrote  also  a  number  of 
articles  for  the  Edinburgh  Eeview. 

Mackintosh  seems  to  have  been  greater  as  a  man-  than  as  a  writer. 
At  least,  no  one  of  his  works  equals  the  wonderful  reputation  that  he 
himself  enjoyed  among  his  contemporaries.  The  explanation  is  found 
in  the  fascinations  of  London  society  and  the  brilliant  r61e  played  in 
it  by  Sir  James.  In  a  circle  of  wits  and  writers,  he  was  the  brightest 
light.  His  good-nature,  his  quickness,  and  his  wonderful  powers  of 
memory  invested  him  with  a  charm  that  fascinated  everybody,  and 
tempted  him  to  lead  a  life  of  society  which  prevented  him  from  achiev- 
ing any  results  commensurate  with  his  abilities. 

Hazlitt. 

William  Hazlitt,  1778-1830,  wrote  much  on  literary  and  political 
subjects.  He  contributed  a  number  of  articles  to  the  Edinburgh  Re- 
view, and  wrote  several  lectures  upon  English  Poetry,  English  Comic 
Writers,  the  Age  of  Elizabeth,  etc.  In  Hazlitt's  writings,  merit  is 
strangely  jostled  by  demerit.  He  had  a  wide  range  of  sympathy  and 
appreciation,  but  was  subject  to  blind  prejudices.  Especially  was  this 
defect  manifest  in  his  treatment  of  authors  then  living.  He  seemed 
incapable  of  appreciating  a  writer  until  he  was  dead.  In  the  words 
of  Professor  Wilson,  he  reversed  the  proverb,  and  thought  a  dead  ass 
better  than  a  living  lion. 

Canning. 

George  Canning,  1770-1827,  was  a  statesman  and  Parliamentary 
leader  of  great  cekbrity.  In  conjunction  with  some  others.  Canning 
started  a  satirical  journal,  the  Anti- Jacobin,  which  was  intended  to 
ridicule  and  discountenance  the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution. 
The  poetry  of  the  Anti-Jacobin  was  remarkable  for  the  keenness  of 
its  wit.  One  of  the  pieces  contributed  by  Canning,  the  Knife-Grinder, 
a  burlesque  upon  Southey,  has  been  greatly  admired.  Mr.  Canning 
had  a  strong  propensity  for  literary  pursuits,  and  would  doubtless  have 
made  a  great  figure  in  the  world  of  letters,  had  not  his  talents  been 
put  in  requisition  in  the  more  important  science  of  governing  a  great 
empire. 

Cobbett. 
William  Cobbett,  1762-1835,  was  an  English  political  writer  of 
great  notoriety.     He  wrote  under  the  name  of  Peter  Porcupine,  and 
exercised  his  vocation  partly  in  the  United  States   and  partly  in 


154  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

England.  After  a  somewhat  chequered  career,  Cobbett  settled  in 
Philadelphia  in  1796,  and  started  Peter  Porcupine's  Gazette,  in  which 
he  entered  with  great  bitterness  and  violence  into  the  political  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  In  1800  he  returned  to  England  and  began  a  similar 
course  there.  He  came  again  to  the  United  States  in  1817,  but  went 
back  finally  to  England  in  1819,  taking  with  him  the  bones  of  the 
infidel,  Tom  Paine. 

Cobbett  did  not  mistake  in  naming  himself  "Porcupine."  He 
bristled  all  over,  and  against  everybody  in  turns,  and  was  always  in 
hot  water.  He  was  prosecuted  and  fined  several  times  for  slander,  and 
once  he  was  imprisoned.  He  was  as  untruthful  as  he  was  ill-natured. 
Apart  from  his  moral  delinquencies,  Cobbett  was  a  writer  of  great 
merit.  His  style  is  almost  universally  commended.  He  was  a  perfect 
master  of  that  plain,  homespun  idiom  which  all  understand,  and  he 
expressed  himself  with  amazing  clearness.  He  was  especially  remark- 
able for  his  rough  common  sense,  and  his  powers  of  sarcasm. 


IV.    PHILOSOPHICAL    AND    SCIENTIFIC    ^A^RITERS. 

Dugald  Ste^A^art. 

Dugald  Stewart,  1753-1828,  was  the  leading  metaphysical  writer  in 
Great  Britain  during  all  the  early  part  of  the  present  century.  He  was 
born  in  Edinburgh,  his  father  being  at  the  time  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics in  the  University.  In  1772,  being  then  eighteen  years  old, 
young  Stewart  began  assisting  his  father  in  the  instruction  of  the 
mathematical  classes  at  Edinburgh,  and  continued  in  that  department, 
jointly  with  his  father,  until  1785.  On  the  resignation  of  Ferguson, 
in  1785,  Stewart  was  elected  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  and  con- 
tinued to  fill  the  chair  for  twenty-five  years.  His  lectures  were  greatly 
admired,  and  added  much  to  the  renown  of  the  University. 

In  his  philosophy,  Stewart  was  a  disciple  of  Keid,  and  followed 
up  the  reaction  which  Reid  had  begun,  against  the  doctrines  of 
Hume  and  Berkeley.  Although  not  one  of  tlie  most  original  or  pro- 
found thinkers  in  his  department,  yet  by  the  elegance  of  his  style,  his 
clearness  of  statement,  and  the  great  compass  of  his  writings,  he  did 
more  than  any  man  in  his  day  to  diffuse  an  interest  in  speculations 
connected  with  the  human  mind. 

His  principal  works  are :  Elements  of  the  Philosophy  of  the  Hu- 
man Mind ;  Outlines  of  Moral  Philosophy ;  The  Philosophy  of  the 
Active  and  Moral  Powers ;  Lectures  on  Political  Economy ;  A  Gen- 
eral View  of  the  Progress  of  Metaphysical,  Ethical,  and  Political 
Philosophy,  since  the  lievival  of  Letters. 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.        155 

Thomas  'Brown. 

Thomas  Brown,  M.  D.,  1778-1820,  a  distinguished  Scotch  meta- 
physician, was  the  colleague  and  successor  of  Dugald  Stewart  in  the 
chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  The 
work  which  first  gave  him  a  world-wide  celebrity  was  a  treatise  on 
Cause  and  Effect.  The  theory  of  causation  which  he  introduced, 
though  since  generally  abandoned  as  untenable,  was  presented  with 
such  clearness  of  statement  and  such  wonderful  vigor  and  beauty  of 
style,  that  it  took  the  public  by  storm.  Critics  of  all  schools  were 
loud  in  its  praise. 

Abereromble. 

John  Abereromble,  M.  D.,  1781-1844,  who  was  at  his  death  at  the 
head  of  his  profession  in  Scotland  as  a  physician,  was  equally  emi- 
nent as  a  writer  of  medical  works,  and  as  a  writer  on  metaphysics. 
His  works  of  the  latter  class  are  the  Philosophy  of  the  Moral  Feel- 
ings, and  the  Intellectual  Powers.  The  work  last  named  has  had  an 
extended  and  general  popularity.  Though  not  profound,  it  is  clear 
and  easily  understood ;  it  contains  much  curious  and  useful  informa- 
tion, and  it  is  particularly  valuable  on  those  points  in  which  the 
mind  is  affected  by  the  body.  The  author's  medical  experience  and 
knowledge  gave  him  special  facilities  for  treating  intelligently  this 
class  of  subjects.     A  truly  Christian  spirit  pervades  all  his  writings. 

Dymond. 

Jonathan  Dymond,  1796-1828,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
wrote  two  works  of  great  value :  Inquiry  into  the  Accordancy  of  War 
with  the  Principles  of  Christianity;  Essays  on  the  Principles  of - 
Morality,  and  on  the  Private  and  Political  Eights  and  Obligations  of 
Mankind.  The  former  was  one  of  the  most  effective  weapons  of  the 
Peace  Society.  The  latter  has  been  republished  in  the  United  States, 
and  has  been  made  a  text-book  on  Moral  Science  in  many  institutions 
of  learning. 

Jeremy  Bentham. 

Jeremy  Bentham,  1747-1832,  attained  great  celebrity  as  a  writer 
on  political  reform.  Most  of  the  ameliorations  in  English  law  have 
sprung  from  the  discussions  to  which  Bentham  gave  rise.  He  was 
indeed  a  bold,  vigorous,  and  original  thinker,  but  not  a  safe  guide ; 
and  in  liis  religious  opinions  was  decidedly  of  an  infidel  character. 
The  cardinal  doctrines  of  his  whole  system  were,  that  "  utility  is  the 


156  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

test  and  measure  of  virtue ; "  and  that  "  the  object  of  legislation  is  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number." 

Malthus. 

Thomas  Eobert  Malthus,  1766-1834,  was  the  author  of  a  large 
number  of  works  on  Political  Economy.  His  best  known  work  was 
an  Essay  on  the  Principle  of  Population.  It  excited  great  attention 
when  it  first  appeared ;  and  the  principles  which  it  lays  down  have 
not  ceased  to  engage  the  attention  of  philosophers  ever  since.  He 
controverts  the  theory  of  Godwin  and  others  upon  the  progress  and 
perfectibility  of  human  nature,  and  endeavors  to  establish,  as  a  funda- 
mental principle,  that  population  tends  to  increase  in  geometrical 
ratio,  while  the  supply  of  food  and  other  necessaries  can  be  increased 
only  in  arithmetical.  The  corollary  is,  of  course,  that  at  some  future 
day  the  supply  of  food  will  not  suffice  the  population.  This  theory 
has  lately  received  fresh  impulse  by  its  relation  to  the  so-called  strug- 
gle for  existence  underlying  Darwin's  Origin  of  Species. 

Ricardo. 

David  Ricardo,  1772-1823,  is  another  prominent  writer  on  Politi- 
cal Economy.  Ricardo's  Principles  of  Political  Economy  and  Tax- 
ation belongs  to  the  same  class  with  Adam  Smith's  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions, Malthus  on  Population,  and  Mill's  Principles,  leading  works 
on  the  subject.  Several  of  tlie  principles  laid  down  by  Ricardo  have 
been  controverted  or  shown  to  be  erroneous,  but  the  work  still  retains 
its  value  as  an  able  treatise. 

V.    RELIGIOUS    AND    THEOLOGICAL    WRITERS. 

Scott  the  Commentator. 

Thomas  Scott,  D.  D.,  1747-1821,  was  the  author  of  a  Commentary 
on  the  Bible  which  has  been  more  read  than  any  other  like  work  in 
the  English  language.  His  first  work  was  the  Force  of  Truth,  in 
which  he  describes  his  own  religious  experience.  During  the  course 
of  his  long  ministry,  he  wrote  many  other  books  and  pamphlets  on 
religious  and  theological  subjects.  But  the  main  work  of  his  life  was 
the  preparation  of  his  Commentary  on  the  Bible,  which  first  appeared 
in  1792.  It  was  usually  printed  in  6  vols.,  4to.  This  great  work  was 
entirely  his  own  composition,  and  was  characterized  by  a  sound  sense 
and  a  general  sobriety  of  judgment  and  clearness  of  statement  which 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORAEIES.      157 

made  it  an  almost  universal  favoriter  No  Commentary  on  the  Scrip- 
tures probably  has  ever  been  read  half  so  much  as  Scott's.  It  is 
wanting  in  critical  scholarship,  and  it  skips  the  hard  places,  but  it 
gives  a  clear,  bold  outline  of  the  general  scope  of  each  passage.  It  is 
now  practically  superseded  by  works  of  a  more  critical  character. 

Robert  Hall. 

Kobert  Hall,  1764-1831,  was,  by  unanimous  consent,  the  greatest 
pulpit  orator  of  his  day,  excepting  possibly  Dr.  Chalmers. 

The  accounts  given  of  the  effects  of  Eobert  Hall's  preaching  partake 
of  the  marvellous.  "  From  the  commencement  of  his  discourse  an 
almost  breathless  silence  prevailed,  deeply  impressive  and  solemniz- 
ing from  its  singular  intenseness.  Not  a  sound  was  heard  but  that  of 
the  preacher's  voice  —  scarcely  an  eye  but  was  fixed  upon  him  —  not 
a  countenance  that  he  did  not  watch  and  read,  and  interpret  as  he  sur- 
veyed them  again  and  again  with  his  rapid,  ever-excursive  glance. 
As  he  advanced  and  increased  in  animation,  five  or  six  of  his  auditors 
would  be  seen  to  rise  and  lean  forward  over  the  front  of  their  pews, 
still  keeping  their  eyes  upon  him.  Some  new  or  striking  sentiment 
or  expression  would,  in  a  few  minutes,  cause  others  to  rise  in  like 
manner :  shortly  afterwards  still  more,  and  so  on,  until,  long  before 
the  close  of  the  sermon,  it  often  happened  that  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  congregation  were  seen  standing,  —  every  eye  directed  to  the 
preacher,  yet  now  and  then  for  a  moment  glancing  from  one  to  the 
other,  thus  transmitting  and  reciprocating  thought  and  feeling :  Mr. 
Hall  himself,  though  manifestly  absorbed  in  his  subject,  conscious  of 
the  whole,  received  new  animation  from  what  he  thus  witnessed,  re- 
flecting it  back  upon  those  who  were  already  alive  to  the  inspiration, 
until  all  who  were  susceptible  of  thought  and  emotion  seemed  wound 
up  to  the  utmost  limit  of  elevation  on  earth,  —  when  he  would  close, 
and  they  reluctantly  resumed  their  seats."  —  Olinthus  Gregory. 

Dr.  Hall  was  strongly  moved  by  public  affairs,  and  on  several  occa- 
sions he  wrote  and  preached  on  the  exciting  topics  of  the  day.  The 
course  of  the  French  Kevolution  called  forth  several  controversial 
essays  from  his  pen,  and  his  sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Princess  Char- 
lotte attracted  universal  attention  by  its  commanding  eloquence. 

f,i  Legh  Richmond. 

Legh  Eichmond,  1772-1827,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England, 
of  the  evangelical  school,  acquired  great  celebrity  by  the  publication 
of  three  narrative  tracts,  the  Dairyman's  Daughter,  the  Negro  Ser- 
14 


158  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

vant,  and  the  Young  Cottager,  which  have  had  an  immense  circula- 
tion. Of  the  Dairyman's  Daughter  alone,  four  million  copies,  in 
nineteen  languages,  had  been  sold  as  long  ago  as  1849. 

VI.    MISCELLANEOUS  WRITERS. 

Mrs.  Barbauld. 

Mrs.  Anna  Letitia  Barbauld,  1743-1825,  though  not  gifted  with 
genius  of  so  high  an  order  as  Joanna  Baillie,  was  yet  a  woman  of 
noble  mould,  who  deserves  well  of  her  kind  both  for  what  she  did  and 
for  what  she  was.  Iler  writings,  which  are  numerous,  are  partly  edu- 
cational and  partly  belong  to  what  is  called  polite  literature.  Mrs.  Bar- 
bauld was  the  daughter  of  the  Eev.  John  Aikin,  and  the  sister  of  Dr. 
John  Aikin.  Her  father,  who  was  a  dissenting  minister,  and  who  kept 
a  seminary  for  the  education  of  boys,  gave  her  the  same  lessons  with 
his  other  pupils,  and  thus  she  was  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics.  She  was  married  to  the  Eev.  Rochemant  Barbauld, 
a  Dissenting  minister  of  French  descent.  She  and  her  husband  opened 
a  boarding-school  for  boys,  the  success  of  which  was  due  mainly  to  her 
exertions.  Several  young  boys  were  taken  under  her  entire  charge. 
Among  these  lads  were  two  who  afterwards  became  distinguished,  Sir 
William  Gell  and  Lord  Chief-Justice  Denman. 

It  was  for  these  young  pupils  that  Mrs.  Barbauld  composed  her  two 
best  works,  Early  Lessons  for  Children,  and  Hymns  in  Prose.  Among 
her  other  works,  she  edited  the  British  Novelists,  in  50  vols. 

Mrs.  Barbauld  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-two,  and  her  closing  years, 
like  those  of  many  other  women  eminent  in  literature,  were  peaceful 
and  serene. 

The  lines  given  below  were  written  by  Mrs.  Barbauld  in  her  ex- 
treme old  age.  They  have  a  curious  history.  Crabb  Robinson  says 
that  on  one  occasion  he  repeated  the  lines  to  Wordsworth,  while  on  a 
visit  to  the  poet.  Wordsworth,  who  was  walking  up  and  down  in  his 
sitting-room,  asked  to  have  them  repeated  again  and  again,  until  he 
had  learned  them  by  heart.  Then,  pausing  in  his  walk,  and  mutter- 
ing to  himself,  he  said,  "  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  grudging  people 
their  good  things,  but  I  wish  I  had  written  those  lines." 

"  Life !  I  know  not  what  thou  art. 
But  know  that  thou  and  I  must  part; 
And  when,  or  how,  or  where  we  met, 
I  own  to  me 's  a  secret  yet. 
Life !  we  've  been  long  together, 
Through  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather ; 


SCOTT    AND    HIS    CONTEMPOR AEIES.      159 

'Tis  hard  to  part  when  friends  are  dear — 

Perhaps  'twill  cost  a  sigh,  a  tear ; 

Then,  steal  away,  give  little  warning, 

Choose  thine  own  time ; 

Say  not  Good-Night,  —  but  in  some  brighter  clime 

Bid  me  Good-Morning." 

Dr.  Aikin. 

John  Aikin,  M.D.,  1747-1822,  an  industrious  and  useful  writer, 
was  for  fifty  years  prominently  before  the  public  as  an  author  and  a 
compiler,  but  without  achieving  any  lasting  renown.  In  conjunction 
with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Barbauld,  he  wrote  Evenings  at  Home,  a  series 
of  essays  and  tales  for  children.  The  work  was  completed  in  1795,  in 
6  vols.,  and  was  very  popular.  It  was  translated  into  almost  every 
language  of  Europe,  and  led  the  way  to  numerous  works  of  a  similar 
nature  by  other  hands.  It  was  the  pioneer  to  an  important  species  of 
literature  which  in  our  day  has  received  a  prodigious  development. 
His  latest  publication  was  an  edition  of  the  Select  Works  of  the  British 
Poets,  with  copious  notes,  biographical  and  critical.  The  work  is 
familiarly  known  as  Aikin's  British  Poets,  and  has  enjoyed  an  exten- 
sive popularity. 

Charles  Lamb. 

Charles  Lamb,  1775-1834,  excelled  all  the  men  of  his  day  in  the 
style  of  writing  which  he  cliiefly  cultivated.  The  Essays  of  Elia,  by 
which  he  is  best  known,  are  marked  by  a  certain  delicate  and  quiet 
humor,  which  will  always  insure  him  a  chosen  band  of  devoted  ad- 


Roscoe. 

William  Eoscoe,  1753-1831,  is  well  known  as  a  writer  on  Italian 
history  and  literature.  He  was  a  banker  of  Liverpool,  and  a  member 
of  Parliament.  His  chief  works  were  his  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
and  his  Life  of  Leo  X.  They  were  for  a  long  time  the  standard  works 
on  the  subject  of  which  they  treat.  The  style  is  in  the  main  pleasing, 
and  the  author's  knowledge  is  extensive.  Unfortunately,  however,  he 
was  not  critical  or  accurate  in  his  use  of  authorities,  and  he  has  even 
consciously  veiled  some  of  the  worst  features  of  that  age  in  Italy.  For 
much  of  the  ground  which  he  covers  he  has  been  superseded  by  latei' 
writers,  especially  by  TroUope  in  his  History  of  the  Florentine  Ke- 
public. 


160  ENGLISH    LITERATURE, 


Mitford. 

William  Mitford,  1744-1827,  is  honorably  connected  with  literature 
by  his  elaborate  work  on  the  History  of  Greece.  This  extends  from 
the  beginning  of  Greek  history  down  to  the  death  of  Philip.  It  was 
the  standard  history,  until  superseded  by  the  works  of  Thirl  wall  and 
Grote,  and  even  now  possesses  great  value.  Its  chief  defect  is  that  it 
is  conceived  in  a  partisan,  not  a  judicial  spirit.  Mitford  writes, 
throughout,  with  the  animus  of  a  Tory,  and  carries  back  to  the  days 
of  Greece  his  antipathies  to  democracy  and  republics.  He  sees  the 
events  of  Athenian  political  life  through  Tory  spectacles,  as  it  were, 
and  hence  can  see  but  little  good  in  Demosthenes,  and  no  evil  in 
PhiUp. 

Gillies. 

John  Gillies,  LL.  D.,  1747-1836,  is  likewise  extensively  known  as 
an  historian  of  Greece.  Gillies's  Greece  and  Mitford's  were  at  one 
time  the  rival  candidates  for  public  favor,  though  both  have  now  been 
superseded. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Wordsworth  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(I830-I8B0.) 

The  present  chapter  embraces  the  time  from  1830  to  1850.  It  in- 
cludes the  long  period  of  tranquillity  that  ensued  after  the  accession 
of  Louis  Philippe  to  the  throne  of  France.  It  was  a  time  of  general 
peace  and  thrift  throughout  the  world. 

The  writers  of  this  period  may  be  divided  into  six  sections:  1.  The 
Poets,  beginning  with  Wordsworth ;  2.  Writers  of  Novels  and  Tales, 
beginning  with  Miss  Mitford ;  3.  Writers  on  Litemture,  Politics,  and 
Science,  beginning  with  Sydney  Smith ;  4.  Writers  on  Religion  and 
Theology,  beginning  with  Chalmers ;  5.  Writers  on  History,  Biogra- 
phy, Antiquities,  and  Travel,  beginning  with  Lingard;  6.  Miscella- 
neous Writers,  beginning  with  Arnold  of  Rugby. 

I.     THE  POETS. 

Wordsworth. 

William  Wordsworth,  1770=-1850,  had  been  contemporary  with 
Coleridge  and  Southey  and  the  other  illustrious  writers  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  and  had  risen  to  fame  with  them.  But  he  con- 
tinued steadily  to  rise  after  those  stars  had  set,  and  during  all  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  course  he  reigned  supreme  in  the  poetical  firmament,  in 
solitary  and  unapproachable  splendor.  From  1840  to  1850  he  was  by 
general  consent  the  first  of  living  poets  in  England, 

Wordsworth  studied  at  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  degree  of  B. 
A.  in  1791.  Before  graduation,  however,  he  had  visited  France,  then 
in  the  throes  of  the  great  Revolution,  and  had  become  intimately  ac- 
14*  ^  L  161 


162  ENGLISH     LITERATURE. 

quainted  with  some  of  the  Girondists.  The  impression  made  upon 
the  young  poet  by  the  scenes  and  characters  of  the  Eevolution  was 
never  to  be  effaced.  He  became  for  the  time  an  ardent  republican,  so 
much  so  that  he  could  not  even  sympathize  with  his  country  in  her 
war  upon  France.  In  time  came  tlie  reaction,  brought  about  by  the 
crimes  and  anarchy  of  the  Eevolution  itself,  and  Wordsworth  turned 
back  in  righteous  horror.  From  this  time  onward,  the  poet's  life 
became  one  of  tranquil  meditation  and  composition. 

His  first  publication  of  any  note  was  one  made  jointly  by  him  and 
Coleridge.  This  was  the  famous  Lyrical  Ballads,  published  in  1798. 
The  understanding  was  that  Coleridge  should  "take  up  the  super- 
natural and  romantic,"  while  Wordsworth  undertook  to  "give  the 
charm  of  novelty  to  the  things  of  every  day,  and  to  excite  a  feeling . 
analogous  to  the  supernatural  by  awakening  the  mind's  attention  to 
the  lethargy  of  custom,  and  by  directing  to  the  loveliness  and  the 
wonders  of  the  world  around  us."  Accordingly,  Coleridge  produced 
the  Ancient  Mariner,  and  Wordsworth  a  number  of  short  pieces,  among 
them  some  of  his  very  best,  such  as  an  Anecdote  for  Fathers,  We  are 
Seven,  Lines  written  in  Early  Spring,  Tintern  Abbey.  Others  again, 
like  the  Idiot  Boy,  are  unquestionably  weak.  Not  only  did  the  vol- 
ume meet  with  no  favor ;  it  was  condemned  in  unmeasured  terms  by 
critics  of  high  and  low  degree.  Coleridge  came  off  more  lightly,  but 
Wordsworth's  share  of  the  venture  was  denounced  as  the  veriest 
"trash"  and  "twaddle." 

But  Wordsworth  was  a  law  unto  himself.  Apparently  unruffled  by 
severity  and  ridicule,  he  moved  on  in  his  selt-appointed  way.  His 
circumstances  grew  easier  by  the  payment  of  a  long-standing  debt 
owed  to  his  father's  estate.  He  married,  in  1802,  his  cousin,  Mary 
Hutchinson,  by  whom  he  had  five  children.  After  living  for  some 
years  at  Grasmere,  and  then  at  Allan  Bank,  he  settled  permanently, 
in  1813,  at  Eydal  Mount,  in  Cumberland;  and  there  calmly  awaited 
the  slow-coming  verdict  of  the  public. 

The  records  of  literature  present  scarcely  another  such  instance  of 
a  poet's  growing  into  supreme  favor  and  repute  in  despite  of  deter- 
mined opposition.  At  first  Wordsworth  had  only  the  admiration  of 
a  few  appreciative  friends  —  Coleridge,  De  Quincey,  Southey  —  and 
the  almost  adoration  of  his  wife  and  sister.  But  slowly,  year  after 
year,  prejudice  was  disarmed,  ridicule  was  silenced,  the  circle  of  ad- 
mirers grew  larger,  the  popular  understanding  of  the  poet's  genius 
was  quickened.  At  his  death,  Wordsworth  was  not  only  the  official 
poet-laureate,  but  the  acknowledged  monarch  of  English  letters. 

Wordsworth  himself  contributed  nothing  beyond  his  works  towards 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.      163 

bringing  about  this  wonderful  revolution  in  popular  opinion.  No  poet 
probably  ever  went  less  out  of  his  way  to  seek  favor  or  notice,  cared 
less  for  the  thoughts  and  opinions  of  contemporaries,  read  less  either 
for  information  or  pleasure.  What  he  gave  to  the  world  was  elicited 
by  close  communion  with  nature  in  her  myriad  shapes  and  hues,  or 
evolved  little  by  little  from  the  slow- working  loom  of  his  own  imagi- 
nation and  meditation. 

His  principal  works  are  Lyrical  Ballads;  The  Excursion;  The 
White  Doe  of  Eylstone ;  Peter  Bell ;  The  Kiver  Duddon  ;  Yarrow 
Revisited;  and  Sonnets. 

Wordsworth  is  pre-eminently  the  poet  of  the  reflective  imagination. 
He  has  not  the  passion  of  Byron  or  of  Tennyson,  or  the  myriad  mind 
of  Shakespeare.  He  has  not  the  vigor  of  Milton,  but  he  stands  next 
to  Milton  in  purity,  sweetness,  gravity  of  thought  and  style,  and  broad 
humanity.  His  demerit  —  the  one  that  aroused  at  first  such  a  storm 
of  hostile  criticism  —  is  that  he  often  takes  the  fatal  step  from  the 
sublime,  or  at  least  from  the  imaginative,  to  the  ridiculous.  He  seems 
at  times  to  be  wanting  in  the  sense  of  the  incongruous,  and  he  is  always 
wanting  in  true  passion.  While  able  to  depict  passionate  characters, 
he  fails  to  detect  the  subtle  connection  between  motive  and  action, 
character  and  life.  With  all  his  defects,  however,  he  is  a  great  poet. 
He  has  ennobled  the  poetic  style,  and  given  to  it  philosophic  depth : 
he  has  awakened  a  love  for  the  lowly  both  in  nature  and  in  man ;  he 
has  given  a  healthier  tone  to  popular  sentiment.  No  two  men  ever 
differed  more  widely  in  personal  character  than  Wordsworth  and 
Dickens, —  the  one  serene,  contemplative ;  the  other  bustling,  eager, 
ostentatious.  Yet  the  poet's  exaltation  of  the  lowly  prepared  the 
public  for  the  folk-sketches  of  the  great  novelist. 


Keble. 

John  Keble,  1792-1866,  gained  his  chief  distinction  as  a  writer  of 
sacred  lyrics,  though  honored  also  for  his  theological  writings,  and 
held  in  the  highest  reverence  for  the  singular  sweetness  of  his  disposi- 
tion and  the  purity  of  his  life. 

Keble  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  was  for  a  time  Professor  of 
Poetry  there,  but  spent  most  of  his  life  in  a  country  parish.  His  name 
is  intimately  associated  with  that  of  Newman  and  Pnsey  in  the  so- 
called  Tractarian  movement,  which  caused  such  excitement  in  England 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago.  According  to  Newman's  statement,  Keble 
was  the  originator  and  master-mind  of  the  movement. 


164  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

His  best  known  works  are :  The  Christian  Year,  or  Thoughts  in 
Verse  for  the  Sundays  and  Holidays  throughout  the  year;  Lyra  Inno- 
centium,  or  Thoughts  in  Verse  on  Children,  and  his  contributions  to 
Tracts  for  the  Times. 

Keble  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  uncommon  talents,  and  of  the 
most  winning  disposition.  While  at  Oxford,  he  was  the  idol  of  the 
University.  His  subsequent  life  was  mainly  one  of  retirement  and 
parochial  duty.  His  Christian  Year  is  the  most  valuable  contribution 
to  religious  poetry  made  in  the  present  century,  and  has  been  received 
as  a  household  treasure  in  families  of  every  creed. 

Croly. 

George  Croly,  LL.D.,  1780-1860,  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  had  a  parish  in  London,  where  he  attained  celebrity  as 
a  preacher.  His  writings  are  very  numerous,  and  hold  a  high  rank. 
He  succeeded  about  equally  as  a  poet,  as  a  writer  of  fiction,  as  an  his- 
torian, as  a  literary  editor,  and  as  a  religious  polemic.  In  the  long  list 
of  his  works,  there  is  scarcely  one  that  at  the  time  of  its  publication 
did  not  make  its  mark.  His  Catiline,  in  poetry,  his  Salathiel,  in  fic- 
tion, his  George  IV.  and  Edmund  Burke,  in  history,  fall  but  little  short 
of  being  of  the  first  class  in  their  several  kinds. 

V 

Ebenezer  Elliott. 

Ebenezer  Elliott,  1781-1849,  is  familiarly  known  as  "  The  Corn-Law 
Rhymer."  Elliott  was  obliged  in  his  youth  to  work  at  the  forge  in  an 
iron  foundry  in  Yorkshire,  and  had  few  advantages  of  education.  But 
an  inward  prompting  led  him  to  the  cultivation  of  letters  by  means  of 
private  study,  and  in  his  case,  as  in  that  of  several  others  in  like  cir- 
cumstances, the  inspiration  to  verse  first  came  from  reading  Thomson's 
Seasons. 

His  first  ventures  with  the  public  were  unsuccessful,  being  on  topics 
similar  to  those  which  he  had  admired  in  Thomson.  But  Elliott  was 
out  of  his  element  in  subjects  like  these.  Neither  his  education  nor 
his  rilgged  nature  fitted  him  for  gentle  themes.  The  agitation  for  the 
repeal  of  the  corn  laws,  and  the  light  thrown  upon  the  appalling  hard- 
ships of  the  operatives,  enlisted,  however,  his  warmest  sympathies,  and 
furnished  him  with  topics  which  called  out  all  the  resources  of  his 
strong  and  fiery  nature.  His  Corn-Law  Rhymes  had  the  ring  of  the 
anvil.  They  received  almost  immediate  recognition,  and  gave  the 
author  an  established  position  as  the  Poet  of  the  People. 


WOKDSWOKTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.     165 

Barham. 

Eev.  Eicliard  Harris  Barham,  1788-1845,  a  humorous  writer,  is  bet- 
ter known  by  his  assumed  name  of  Thomas  Ingoldsby.  His  chief 
work,  the  Ingoldsby  Legends,  a  series  of  tale^  in  verse  and  prose,  ap- 
peared first  in  Bentley's  Miscellany,  and  was  received  with  general 
favor.  None  of  these  Legends  probably  had  a  wider  circulation  than 
the  thoroughly  laughable  story  of  the  famous  Lord  Tomnoddy.  Mr. 
Barham  was  a  friend  of  Sydney  Smith,  Theodore  Hook,  and  other  wits 
of  the  day. 

Hood. 

Thomas  Hood,  1798-1845,  was  the  prince  of  comic  humorists,  the 
most  audacious  and  successful  of  punsters.  Hood  was  son  of  a  London 
publisher,  and  entered  a  counting-house  to  learn  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, but  left  it  for  the  engraver's  tool,  and  that  in  turn  for  the  life  of  a 
man  of  letters.  He  became  sub-editor  of  the  London  Magazine,  and 
editor  of  the  New  Monthly,  besides  being  a  regular  contributor  to 
Punch. 

His  most  successful  humorous  publications  were  Miiss  Killmansegg 
and  Her  Wooden  Leg,  Whims  and  Oddities,  the  Comic  Annual,  and 
Hood's  Comic  Album.  The  three  most  famous  of  his  serious  poems 
are  the  Dream  of  Eugene  Aram,  the  Song  of  the  Shirt,  and  the 
Bridge  of  Sighs.  The  two  latter,  apart  from  their  beauty  of*  sentiment, 
are  probably  unsurpassed  in  English  verse  in  the  wonderfully  delicate 
interlacing  of  their  rhymes. 

No  English  writer  has  equalled  Hood  in  the  audacity  with  which 
he  plays  upon  words.  Still,  even  in  his  most  fantastic  pieces,  there 
is  always  a  deep  undercurrent  of  genuine  pathos. 

Hook. 

Theodore  Edward  Hook,  1788-1841,  another  humorist  and  wit  of 
this  period,  was  second  only  to  Hood.  Hook  wrote,  in  all,  thirty-eight 
works  and  pieces,  besides  editing  the  John  Bull  and  the  New 
Monthly,  and  contributing  to  other  periodicals.  "  Many  and  multi- 
farious, however,  as  are  his  volumes,  he  has  left  behind  him  no  great 
creation,  nothing  that  can  be  pointed  to  as  a  triumphant  index  of  the 
extraordinary  powers  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed." — D.  M.  Moir. 


166  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

James  Montgomery. 

James  Montgomery,  1771-1854,  holds  a  high  rank  among  the  poets 
of  England.  His  devotional  poetry  especially  has  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  national  heart,  hardly  inferior  to  that  produced  by  the 
poetry  of  Cowper.  He  was  for  more  than  thirty  years  editor  of  the 
Sheffield  Iris,  a  liberal  journal.  The  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  were 
passed  in  retirement. 

Montgomery  is  one  among  the  instances  in  which  Jeffrey  made 
shipwreck  in  attempting  to  criticise  poetical  productions.  The  slash- 
ing reviewer  broke  the  staff  over  Montgomery's  Wanderer  in  Switzer- 
land, but  all  in  vain.  Despite  the  maledictions  and  prognostications 
of  the  Edinburgh,  Montgomery's  poems  gained  steadily  in  favor,  until 
the  poet  obtained  his  just  rank  by  the  side  of  Campbell,  Rogers,  and 
Southey. 

Of  his  larger  works  the  most  important  are  the  following;  The 
Wanderer  in  Switzerland  ;  The  West  Indies,  a  poem  against  the  slave- 
trade  ;  The  World  before  the  Flood.  Besides  these,  he  wrote  a  large 
number  of  short  devotional  pieces  that  have  been  adopted  into  the 
hymnals  of  all  Christian  denominations.  Many  lines  and  passages, 
such  as  "  There  is  a  land,  of  every  land  the  pride,"  have  passed  into 
the  common  stock  of  the  language. 

Robert  Montgomery. 

Robert  Montgomery,  1807-1856,  is  the  author  of  a  large  number  of 
works,  chiefly  poetical,  on  religious  subjects.  He  enjoyed  great  tem- 
porary popularity  as  a  poet,  but  is  at  present  little  read.  His  princi- 
pal works,  the  Omnipresence  of  the  Deity,  and  Satan,  or  Intellect 
without  God,  were  the  subjects  of  a  scathing  notice  by  Macaulay  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review. 

Bernard  Barton. 

Bernard  Barton,  1784-1849,  is  commonly  known  as  "The  Quaker 
Poet."  He  became  a  banker's  clerk  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  and 
continued  in  that  position  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He  published  no  one 
extended  poem,  but  a  large  number  of  detached  pieces,  mostly  of  a 
meditative  character. 

Thomas  Haynes  Bayly. 

Thomas  Haynes  Bayly,  1797-1839,  is  widely  known  as  a  prolific 
writer  of  novels,  tales,  plays,  and  songs.  He  produced  thirty-six 
pieces  for  the  stage,  and  his  songs  are  numbered  by  the  hundred. 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.     167 
II.    WRITERS   OF   NOVELS   AND  TALES. 

Miss  Mitford. 

Mary  Eussell  Mitford,  1786-1855,  is  among  tlie  best  writers  of  tales 
descriptive  of  English  country  life  and  character.  She  evinced  early 
in  life  a  fondness  for  letters.  Poetry  was  her  favorite,  but  she  was 
forced  to  turn  aside  to  the  every-day  but  more  lucrative  path  of  prose. 

Her  first  important  publication  was  Our  Village,  a  series  of  delight- 
ful sketches  of  English  rural  life.  It  met  with  a  very  warm  reception, 
and  established  the  author's  reputation.  This  was  followed  by  Ameri- 
can Tales ;  American  Tales  for  Children ;  Belford  Regis,  or  Sketches 
of  a  Country  Town ;  Country  Stories ;  and  Atherton,  a  tale  of  Country 
Life.  Upon  the  whole.  Miss  Mitford  succeeds  best  as  a  describer  of 
English  country  life  and  character.  Her  sketches  are  drawn  from 
nature  itself,  and  have  an  air  of  the  most  charming  reality.  No  books 
of  the  kind  are  more  thoroughly  enjoyable  by  old  and  young.  They 
have  outlived  nearly  all  the  fashionable  novels,  their  great  contempo- 
raries, and  entered  into  the  permanent  treasure-house  of  English  lit- 
erature. 

Mrs.  Opie. 

Amelia  Opie,  1769-1853,  is  widely  known  —  almost  as  widely  as 
Miss  Edgeworth  —  for  her  popular  Tales. '  She  was  the  wife  of  the 
distinguished  painter,  James  Opie.  Her  principal  works  are  Father 
and  Daughter,  Adeline  Mowbray,  and  Madeline.  She  wrote  also  a 
collection  of  shorter  pieces,  and  a  series  of  stories  to  illustrate  the  evil 
consequences  of  lying. 

Mrs.  Opie's  fame  as  a  novelist  has  diminished  considerably  of  late 
years.  In  no  sense  can  she  be  considered  a  creator  of  character.  Her 
personages  are  not  marked,  the  plot  of  the  story  is  weak,  and  the 
moral  purpose  throughout  is  too  palpable.  Her  strength  lies  in  her 
power  to  dissect  morbid  conditions  and  passions  of  the  human  heart. 

Lady  Morgan. 

Lady  Sydney  Morgan,  1789-1859,  was  in  her  day  one  of  the  leading 
celebrities  of  the  literary  world.  She  was  chiefly  known  by  her  novels 
and  her  works  of  travel.  The  most  popular  of  her  novels  is  the  Wild 
Irish  Girl.  Woman,  or  Ida  of  Athens,  is  noted  as  having  furnished 
the  occasion  for  one  of  GifFord's  most  ferocious  reviews  in  the  London 
Quarterly.  Her  two  most  celebrated  works  of  travel  are  entitled  re- 
spectively France  and  Italy.    They  are  still  interesting,  and  were  read 


168  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

with  avidity  at  the  time  of  their  appearance,  although  Gifford  kept  up 
his  fulminations  against  the  authoress.  Lady  Morgan's  style  is 
sprightly,  and  her  descriptions  successful,  but  she  was  wholly  incom- 
petent to  deal  with  the  graver  problems  of  life,  such  as  she  has  touched 
upon  in  Woman. 

Captain  Marryat. 

Frederick  Marryat,  1792-1848,  captain  in  the  Royal  Navy,  and 
an  able  officer  as  well  as  writer,  is  universally  considered  the  best 
English  delineator  of  naval  life  and  adventure.  His  principal  works 
are  The  Pacha  of  Many  Tales ;  Midshipman  Easy ;  Japliet  in  Search 
of  a  Father ;  Peter  Simple ;  Jacob  Faithful. , 

Besides  his  strictly  nautical  novels.  Captain  Marryat  wrote  several 
novels  and  sketches  descriptive  of  American  life  in  the  West.  During 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  Marryat  published  a  number  of  stories  for 
the  young,  such  as  Masterman  Ready.  As  a  writer  upon  American 
manners,  he  attained  but  moderate  success.  It  is  only  when  he 
moves  among  scenes  and  persons  thoroughly  English  that  he  displays 
his  powers  to  the  best  advantage.  His  descriptions  of  incident  and 
character  are  easy  and  vigorous,  and  extremely  droll.  The  best  of 
his  works  is  Midshipman  Easy. 

George  Borrow. 

George  Borrow,  1803 ,  is  a  popular  English  writer  and  adven- 
turer. He  had^  natural  turn  for  acquiring  by  the  ear  a  knowledge 
of  living  languages,  and  had  in  this  way  acquired,  among  other  lan- 
guages, a  knowledge  of  that  spoken  by  the  Gypsies,  and  with  it  a 
great  deal  of  curious  information  in  regard  to  that  singular  people. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  Gypsy  himself,  so  far  as  an  irrepres- 
sible love  of  wandering  and  adventure  is  concerned;  and  he  was 
employed,  with  wonderful  success,  in  circulating  the  Bible  in  Spain 
at  a  time  when  no  other  agency  seemed  capable  of  doing  the  work. 
His  works,  partly  fictitious,  and  partly  autobiographical,  giving  an 
account  of  his  labors  in  Bible  distribution  and  of  his  adventures 
among  the  Gypsies,  are  exceedingly  entertaining,  and  have  been 
very  popular.  The  titles  of  his  principal  works  are:  The  Bible  in 
Spain ;  Zincali,  an  Account  of  the  Gypsies  in  Spain ;  Lavengro,  the 
Scholar,  the  Gypsy,  and  the  Priest. 

Charlotte  Bronte  and  her  Sisters. 

Three  sisters,  daughters  of  Rev.  Patrick  Bronte,  rose  suddenly  to 
fame  about  the  middle  of  the  present  century :  Charlotte,  1816- 
15 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.     169 

1855,  known  as  "  Currer  Bell ; "  Anne,  1820-1849,  known  as  "  Acton 
Bell;"  and  Emily,  1819-1848,  known  as  "Ellis  Bell." 

The  first  publication  of  the  sisters  was  a  joint  afiair.  Poems  by  Cur- 
rer, Ellis,  and  Acton  Bell.  Emily,  besides  her  share  in  the  volume 
just  named,  wrote  Wuthering  Heights,  a  novel  of  considerable,  but 
very  unequal  power.  Anne  wrote  also  Agnes  Grey,  and  The  Tenant 
of  Wildfeld  Hall.  None  of  these  works,  probably,  would  have  at- 
tracted much  attention,  but  for  their  association  with  those  of  the 
.older  sister. 

Charlotte's  first  separate  publication  was  Jane  Eyre,  an  Autobiog- 
raphy. It  was  a  work  of  wonderful  power,  and  it  gained  immediate 
and  universal  popularity.  It  was  followed  by  Shirley,  not  quite 
equal  to  the  preceding,  but  still  very  able  and  very  popular.  Vil- 
lette,  her  last  and  greatest  work,  was  received  with  a  universal  burst 
of  admiration.  In  it  she  not  only  rose  to  the  level  of  Jane  Eyre, 
but  even  went  above  it.  The  biography  of  Charlotte  Bronte  by  Mrs. 
Gaskell  is  itself  a  book  of  intense  interest. 

III.     WRITERS    ON    LITERATURE,    POLITICS,    AND 
SCIENCE. 

Sydney  Smith. 

Sydney  Smith,  1771-1845,  the  witty  Canon  of  St.  Paul's,  was  on  the 
whole  the  ablest  and  most  efiective  of  that  small  band  of  writers  who 
in  the  early  part  of  this  century  made  the  Edinburgh  Review  a  power 
in  the  world. 

Smith  studied  at  Winchester  and  at  Oxford,  took  orders  in  the 
Church  of  England,  and  became  finally  Canon  of  St.  Paul's.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  and  he  wrote  for  that 
periodical  many  of  its  most  brilliant  articles  on  politics,  literature, 
and  philosophy.  His  most  celebrated  series  of  writings  was  Let- 
ters on  the  Subject  of  the  Catholics,  to  my  Brother  Abraham  who 
lives  in  the  Country.  These  Letters,  appearing  during  the  times  of 
agitation  which  preceded  the  passage  of  the  Catholic  Emancipation 
Bill,  exhibited  the  author's  full  powers  of  wit,  sarcasm,  and  solid  rea- 
soning, and  summed  up  the  case  for  Emancipation  so  ably  as  to  leave 
nothing  to  be  said  on  the  other  side.  Plis  Memoirs,  published  by  his 
daughter.  Lady  Holland,  is  a  most  interesting  biography,  revealing 
to  us  both  the  public  and  the  domestic  life  of  one  of  the  shrewdest 
and  most  admirable  of  writers,  husbands,  and  fathers.  A  collection  of 
his  sayings  has  been  made,  under  the  title  of  Wit  and  Wisdom  of 
Sydney  Smith. 
*15 


170  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Smith's  wit  was  of  the  highest  order,  the  wit  which  results  from  a 
keen,  intuitive  perception  of  right  and  wrong,  not  degenerating  into 
bitterness  and  rancor,  but  poised  by  strong  good  sense  and  healthy 
self-activity.  He  differs  from  Lamb  in  having  less  humor,  and  a  less 
delicate  play  of  fancy.  Lamb's  whimsicalities  are  those  of  a  recluse 
who  lives  to  himself  and  his  books,  and  loiters  through  the  world 
with  half-closed  eyes ;  Smith  walks  briskly  through  the  great  Vanity 
Fair  with  eyes  wide  open  and  a  jest  at  his  tongue's  end  for  every 
folly.  Many  of  Smith's  sayings  and  repartees  have  become  pro- 
verbial, such  as  the  one  in  which  he  characterizes  Macaulay's  con- 
versation as  enlivened  by  brilliant  flashes  of  silence. 

Jeffrey. 

Francis,  Lord  Jeffrey,  1773-1850,  made  for  himself  a  world-wide 
celebrity  as  a  leading  writer  for  the  Edinburgh  Review,  of  which  also, 
for  more  than  a  fourth  of  a  century,  he  was  the  fearless  and  unequalled 
editor. 

Jeffrey,  while  a  young  man  in  Edinburgh,  became  intimate  with 
Brougham  and  Sydney  Smith,  and  the  result  of  this  intimacy  was  the 
establishment  of  the  celebrated  Review.  After  the  publication  of  the 
first  three  numbers,  the  editorship  was  transferred  from  Smith  to  Jeffrey, 
who  retained  it  from  1803  to  1829.  Jeffrey's  contributions  number  in 
all  two  hundred.  A  selection,  seventy-nine  in  number,  has  been  pub- 
lished, in  4  vols.,  8vo ;  the  remaining  articles  still  lie  scattered  through- 
out the  numbers  of  the  Review. 

Jeffrey  occupies  undoubtedly  the  most  prominent  position  among 
modern  English  reviewers.  This  prominence  is  due,  however,  fully  as 
much  to  his  success  in  editorship  as  to  his  own  merits  as  a  critic. 
Under  his  management  the  Edinburgh  Review  became  a  great  lit- 
erary and  political  power  in  the  realm.  Men  of  every  rank  and  pro- 
fession read  and  admired,  dreaded  or  hated,  its  slashing  tone  and  its 
recklessness  of  fear  or  favor.  Much,  very  much,  of  the  political  pro- 
gress of  England  during  the  present  century  is  due  to  the  stimulus 
applied  unsparingly  to  the  body  politic  by  the  writers  for  this  Review. 

Brougham. 

Henry,  Lord  Brougham,  1778-1868,  was  one  of  the  great  lights  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  He  was  an  advocate,  a  jurist,  a  statesman,  a 
political  reformer,  and  a  man  of  letters,  and  in  each  of  these  walks  of 
mental  activity  stood  among  the  foremost. 

As  a  lawyer,  Brougham  soon  rose  to  distinction ;  and  being  employed 


WOEDSWOKTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.     171 

as  counsel  for  the  defence  of  Queen  Caroline,  he  had  an  occasion  for 
the  display  of  his  talents  such  as  has  rarely  happened.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  where  he  had  no 
superior  in  debate,  and  no  equal  except  perhaps  Canning.  He  was  at 
length  elevated  to  the  Peerage  and  made  Lord  Chancellor.  As  Chan- 
cellor, he  displayed  amazing  activity,  and  on  retiring  from  the  office 
he  left  not  a  single  case  in  arrear  of  judgment,  —  a  fact  without  prece- 
dent in  the  history  of  that  court.  He  was  through  life  an  earnest  ad- 
vocate of  popular  education,  cheap  publications,  and  of  political  and 
social  reform. 

Of  all  his  labors,  none  produced  a  more  immediate  and  widespread 
inj9.uence  than  those  connected  with  the  Edinburgh  Review.  To  this 
celebrated  journal,  begun  in  1802,  Brougham  continued  for  twenty-five 
years  to  be  a  regular  contributor.  The  Review  exerted  a  powerful  in- 
fluence wherever  the  English  language  was  spoken,  and  on  almost 
every  topic  of  public  interest;  and  Brougham,  Smith,  and  Jeffrey 
were  for  many  years  the  great  triumvirs  who  wielded,  without  dispute, 
the  mighty  sceptre. 

A  complete  edition  of  Brougham's  works  was  published  under  his 
own  supervision,  in  1857,  in  10  vols.,  8vo.  Since  his  death,  his  auto- 
biography, written  when  he  was  almost  ninety,  has  made  its  appearance ; 
Life  and  Times  of  Lord  Brougham,  written  by  himself,  3  vols. 

Wilson. 

• 

John  Wilson,  1785-1854,  better  known  as  Christopher  North,  did 
for  Blackwood's  Magazine  what  Brougham,  Jeffrey,  and  Smith  did  for 
the  Edinburgh  Review.  He  was  equally,  though  somewhat  later,  and 
in  a  different  way,  a  potentate  in  the  world  of  opinion. 

Blackwood's  Magazine  began  in  1817,  with  Wilson  and  Lockhart  as 
its  chief  contributors.  Lockhart  going  soon  after  to  London,  Wilson 
became  thenceforth  sole  editor  as  well  as  chief  writer.  In  1820,  he  was 
elected  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
his  competitor  being  Sir  William  Hamilton,  then  but  little  known. 
Wilson  succeeded  in  sustaining  both  his  editorship  and  his  professor- 
ship with  great  distinction.  His  genius  shone  brightest  when  writing 
those  genial,  hap-hazard,  yet  eminently  suggestive  sketches,  criticisms, 
and  fragments  that  filled  page  after  page  of  Blackwood,  and  kept  the 
reader  laughing  or  frowning,  but  always  awake.  There  was  a  spon- 
taneity, a  freshness,  about  North's  utterances,  a  freedom  from  conven- 
tionality, that  surprised  and  delighted.  The  popular  heart  has  always 
associated  him  with  Burns  and  Scott,  as  one  of  a  great  literary  trio. 


172  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

To  the  Scotch  mind,  the  massive  form,  shaggy  brows,  rollicking 
manner,  shrewd  bonhomie,  independent  speech  of  the  great  Kit  North, 
are  typical  of  national  character.  He  is  a  man  whom  his  countrymen 
thoroughly  understand,  and  with  whom  they  can  sympathize. 

The  most  famous  of  his  magazine  pieces  was  a  series  known  as  the 
Noctes  Ambrosianae.  Of  his  publications  outside  the  magazine  the 
one  best  known  was  Lights  and  Shadows  of  Scottish  Life. 

De  Quincey. 

Thomas  De  Quincey,  1785-1859,  is  familiarly  known  as  the  English 
Opium  Eater.  Although  in  the  main  he  made  shipwreck  of  his  won- 
derful powers,  he  yet  achieved  much  that  was  great  and  noble.  He 
is  by  common  consent  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  English  prose. 

After  leaving  the  University,  when  about  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he 
became  intimate  with  Coleridge,  Wordsworth,  and  Southey,  and  took 
up  his  abode  among  them  at  Grasmere,  in  the  beautiful  Lake  region 
made  famous  by  the  residence  of  these  great  writers.  He  remained  in 
that  place  about  twenty  years,  devoting  his  time  to  literary  pursuits, 
and  publishing  his  writings  through  the  magazines, —  Blackwood,  Tait, 
and  others.  On  leaving  Grasmere,  he  went  to  Glasgow,  and  thence  to 
Edinburgh,  in  which  latter  city  he  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life. 

After  indulging  in  the  excessive  use  of  opium  for  many  years,  De 
Quincey,  by  a  desperate  and  long-continued  effort,  succeeded  in  over- 
coming the  habit,  though  he  never  recovered  entirely  from  the  terri- 
ble effects.  This  was  in  1820,  when  he  was  thirty-five  years  of  age. 
In  the  following  year  he  made  a  great  sensation  by  the  publication  of 
the  Confessions  of  an  English  Opium  Eater,  giving  an  account  of  his 
previous  life  and,  of  his  experience  under  the  influence  of  the  dreadful 
drug. 

De  Quincey  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  powers,  and  had  they  been 
under  proper  regulation,  he  might  have  achieved  works  which  would 
have  placed  him  among  the  great  men  of  all  time.  As  it  is,  his  works 
are  all  of  the  nature  of  fragments,  great  and  splendid,  beyond  the  reach 
of  any  man  of  his  time  to  equal,  yet,  after  all,  fragments. 

Of  the  excellence  of  his  style,  as  a  writer  of  prose,  it  is  difficult  to 
speak  too  highly.  Not  a  few  critics  of  great  authority  place  him,  in 
that  respect,  at  the  head  of  all  English  prose  writers,  while  others 
divide  the  honor  between  him  and  Ruskin.  He  wrote  on  a  great 
variety  of  subjects,  historical,  literary,  speculative,  imaginative;  and 
on  every  subject  that  he  undertook  he  left  the  evidences  of  great  and 
original  genius. 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.     173 

Loekhart. 

John  Gibson  Lockhart,  1794-1854,  occupies  a  large  and  honorable 
place  in  the  literary  history  of  his  times. 

He  was  one  of  the  early  contributors  to  Blackwood's  Magazine, 
and  from  1826  to  1853  was  editor  of  the  London  Quarterly  Keview. 
In  his  position  as  editor,  he  placed  the  Quarterly  in  the  very  first 
rank  of  periodicals.  His  greatest  separate  work  is  his  Memoirs  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  which,  as  a  biography,  ranks  next  to  Boswell's  Life 
of  Johnson. 

Lockliart  was  a  native  of  Scotland.  He  was  educated  at  Glasgow 
and  Oxford,  and  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Landor. 

Walter  Savage  Landor,  1775-1864,  is  one  of  the  connecting  links 
between  the  age  of  Waiter  Scott,  Byron,  and  Southey,  and  that  of 
Tennyson  and  Dickens.  He  began  writing  while  still  a  boy,  and  he 
did  not  cease  entirely  until  extreme  old  age,  though  he  lived  to  be 
almost  ninety.  He  was  remarkable  for  the  accuracy  of  his  scholar- 
ship in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  for  his  knowledge  of  history,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  history  of  Greece  and  Rome.  The  men  and  the  affairs  of 
former  ages  seemed  to  be  as  familiar  to  his  mind,  in  all  the  minutiae  of 
their  every-day  and  private  life,  as  are  those  of  our  own  personal  ac- 
quaintance. This  thoroughness  of  historical  knowledge,  joined  to  a 
vigorous  imagination,  enabled  him  to  execute  in  so  wonderful  a 
manner  those  Imaginary  Conversations,  which  form  the  enduring 
basis  of  his  fame. 

In  these  Conversations,  after  the  manner  of  Plato  and  Cicero,  he 
introduces  well-known  historical  characters,  as  discussing  various 
questions  of  public  and  private  interest.  The  range  of  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  these  dialogues  is  almost  encyclopaedic  in  character,  and  the 
proprieties  of  time  and  person  are  so  nicely  observed  that  the  reader 
almost  unconsciously  becomes  acquainted  with  the  men  as  well  as  with 
the  subjects.  In  this  class  of  his  works  are  to  be  included  Imaginary 
Conversations  of  Greeks  and  Romans ;  Imaginary  Conversations  of 
Literary  Men  and  Statesmen ;  Pericles  and  Aspasia ;  and  Citation  and 
Examination  of  Shakespeare  for  Deer-Stealing. 

Mr.  Landor  was  a  man  of  wealth,  extremely  fastidious  in  his  tastes, 
proud  even  to  arrogance,  careless,  almost  contemptuous,  of  public 
opinion,  and  not  condescending  to  conceal  the  good  opinion  he  had 
of  himself.  He  was  of  course  unpopular,  and  was  subjected  to  savage 
criticism.  Yet,  as  years  rolled  on,  his  eminent  merits  gradually  ob- 
15* 


174  ENGLISH    LITEEATURE. 

tained  recognition ;  and,  unlike  many  of  his  contemporaries,  his  star 
now  stands  confessedly  higher  in  the  firmament  than  it  did  fifty  years 
ago.  His  writings  are  very  unequal,  and  some  of  them  doubtless  de- 
serve the  condemnation  which  they  received.  But  others  are  truly 
classical,  and  may  claim  to  stand  beside  the  famous  works  of  antiquity 
which  they  most  resemble  in  form  and  structure. 

John  Foster. 

John  Foster,  1770-1843,  was  the  son  of  a  weaver,  and  was  himself 
apprenticed  to  a  trade ;  but  discovering  aptitudes  for  higher  occupa- 
tions, he  was  allowed  to  study  for  the  ministry,  and  entered  the  Bap- 
tist College  at  Bristol.  Being  obliged  by  a  glandulous  afiection  of  the 
neck  to  stop  preaching,  he  gave  himself  up  to  literary  work,  writing 
chiefly  for  the  Eclectic  Keview.  His  contributions  to  this  Keview 
rank  with  those  of  Macaulay,  Jeffrey,  and  Mackintosh  in  the  Edin- 
burgh, for  vigor,  originality,  depth,  and  finish.  He  wrote  also  a  series 
of  Essays,  which  are  known  wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken. 

Hallam. 

Henry  Hallam,  LL.  D.,  1778-1859,  was  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished historical  writers  of  the  century. 

His  chief  writings  are :  A  View  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages ; 
Constitutional  History  of  England ;  Literature  of  Europe  in  15-17th 
centuries.  Hallam  was  a  valued  friend  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  one 
of  the  early  contributors  to  the  Edinburgh  Review. 

Hugh  Miller. 

Hugh  Miller,  1802-1856,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was  a  man  of  the 
most  marked  character  and  talents.  In  early  life  he  was  employed  as 
a  day-laborer  in  a  stone-quarry,  where  he  not  only  worked  out  sand- 
stone for  his  employers,  but  the  geology  of  the  old  sandstone  for  him- 
self, and  laid  the  deep  and  broad  foundations  for  his  subsequent  fame. 
His  principal  contributions,  in  book-form,  to  science  are:  The  Old 
Red  Sandstone;  Footpi^ints  of  the  Creator;  Testimony  of  the  Rocks. 
His  style  is  a  model  of  clearness  and  vigor,  and  of  adaptation  to  the 
mind  of  the  non-professional  reader.  No  one  has  done  more  to  render 
the  science  of  geology  popular  in  a  legitimate  way.  The  Testimony 
of  the  Rocks  is  a  masterly  attempt  to  reconcile  Geology  with  Genesis, 
or  rather  to  show  that  the  science  of  the  earth's  formation  is  no  more 
antagonistic  to  Revelation  than  is  astronomy,  that  the  two  are  co-ordi- 
nate and  not  antagonistic. 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.      175 

IV.    WRITERS    ON  RELIGION   AND  THEOLOGY. 

Chalmers. 

Thomas  Chalmers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1780-1847,  was  the  most  eminent 
Scotch  divine  of  his  day,  and  one  of  the  great  men  of  all  time. 

Chalmers  first  became  celebrated  as  a  preacher  in  the  Tron  Church, 
Glasgow,  where  his  pulpit  discourses  attracted  great  attention.  His 
abilities  as  a  writer  of  the  first  order  became  conspicuous  by  the  essay 
on  Christianity,  which  he  prepared  for  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia. 
He  next  appeared  as  a  great  and  original  thinker  on  the  difficult  ques- 
tions of  political  economy,  particularly  those  connected  with  pauper- 
ism, and  his  writings  on  this  subject  are  alone  a  noble  monument  of 
his  genius.  He  was  appointed  to  tlie  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the 
University  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  afterwards  to  that  of  Theology  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh.  He  became  the  active  and  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  Free  Church  party  in  the  disruption  movement,  and 
when  the  crisis  came,  he  resigned  his  professorship.  He  was  made 
Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Theological  School  founded  by  the  Free 
Church,  and  he  continued  to  the  end  of  his  days  to  devote  his  great 
talents  to  the  work  of  organizing  and  consolidating  its  affairs.  His 
pre-eminent  abilities  obtained  recognition  in  his  receiving  the  degree 
of  LL.D.  from  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  in  being  elected  a  cor- 
responding member  of  the  Eoyal  Institute  of  France,  "  honors  never 
before  accorded  to  a  Presbyterian  divine,  and  seldom  to  a  Scotchman." 

Chalmers's  works,  including  those  published  posthumously,  and  the 
four  volumes  of  Memoirs  by  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  Hanna,  which  consist 
in  great  measure  of  extracts  from  Chalmers's  Diary  and  Letters, 
amount  to  38  volumes. 

Chalmers  was  great  in  whatever  he  undertook.  As  a  man  of  affairs, 
his  greatest  work  was  what  he  did  in  leading  the  Free  Church.  As  a 
man  of  letters,  his  greatest  work  was  probably  his  Astronomical  Dis- 
courses. None  of  his  writings  certainly  have  thus  far  had  such  en- 
during popularity. 

The  Bridgewater  Treatises. 

The  Eev.  Francis  Henry  Egerton,  Earl  of  Bridgewater,  left  at  his 
death,  1829,  eight  thousand  pounds  sterling,  to  be  paid  to  the  person  or 
persons  who  should  prepare  a  suitable  work  on  the  power,  wisdom,  and 
goodness  of  God,  as  shown  in  the  creation.  The  sum  was  divided  be- 
tween eight  persons,  each  of  whom  prepared  a  "  Bridgewater "  Trea- 
tise.   The  whole  have  been  printed  in  12  vols.,  and  are  considered 


176  ENGLISH    LITEEATURE. 

an  extremely  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  subject. 
The  first  of  the  series  was  by  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Tracts  for  the  Times. 

Among  the  noticeable  features,  in  the  theological  literature  of  this 
period,  is  a  remarkable  series  of  Essays,  under  the  title  of  Tracts  for 
the  Times.  These  Tracts  were  of  various  sizes,  from  small  pamphlets, 
such  as  usually  pass  under  the  name  of  tracts,  up  to  good-sized  volumes. 

The  Tractarian  movement  began  in  1833.  The  originators  of  it 
were  Pusey,  Keble,  J.  H.  Newman,  K.  H.  Froude,  Rose,  Isaac  Wil- 
liams, Ward,  and  Oakley.  These  gentlemen  thought  that  the  Church 
of  England  was  in  danger  from  certain  political  tendencies  in  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  they  resolved  to  undertake  to  counteract  these  tendencies 
by  writing  a  series  of  thoughtful  and  scholarly  tracts,  setting  forth,  in 
a  calm  and  sober  way,  the  views  which  they  held  in  regard  to  the 
character  and  functions  of  the  church.  The  main  points  on  which 
they  insisted  were  the  doctrines  of  Apostolical  Succession,  Baptismal 
Eegeneration,  and  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist.  The 
Tracts  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  attracted  little  attention.  After 
a  time,  however,  as  one  tract  followed  another,  and  as  the  doctrines  set 
forth  became  more  and  more  sharply  defined,  the  public  mind  became 
excited,  and  a  general  agitation  ensued,  which  shook  to  the  founda- 
tions not  only  the  Church  of  England,  but  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States.  Several  of  the  leaders,  Newman,  Ward,  Oakley, 
Archdeacon  Wilberforce,  and  about  two  hundred  other  clergymen, 
with  an  equal  number  of  prominent  laymen,  went  over  to  the  Church 
of  Rome. 

Essays  and  Reviews. 

In  1860  a  volume  appeared  called  Essays  and  Reviews.  It  was  a 
soit  of  rebound  from  the  extreme  high-church  doctrines  of  the  Tracts 
for  the  Times,  and  contained  doctrines  which  it  seemed  difficult. for 
ordinary  Christians  to  reconcile  with  any  fixed  belief  in  Christianity 
and  the  Bible.  Being  written  by  men  who  were  members  and  digni- 
taries of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Essays  and  Reviews  produced  a 
prodigious  agitation,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  silence  and  punish 
the  writers,  by  ecclesiastical  and  legal  proceedings,  according  to  the 
forms  peculiar  to  the  English  national  church.  A  decision  adverse 
to  the  writers  was  obtained  in  the  Court  of  Arches,  the  highest  eccle- 
siastical court,  in  1862;  but  the  decision  was  reversed  on  a  final  ap- 
peal to  the  Privy  Council,  in  1864. 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.      177 

The  excitement  produced  by  the  publication  of  Essays  and  Reviews 
was  greater  even  than  that  produced  by  Tracts  for  the  Times.  Be- 
sides the  agitation  of  this  subject  in  Convocation  and  in  the  Courts, 
more  than  fifty  controversial  volumes  and  pamphlets  about  it  have 
been  published.  As  under  the  influence  of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times 
many  members  of  the  Church  of  England  went  over  to  the  Church  of 
Eome,  so  under  the  influence  of  the  Essays  and  Reviews  many  have 
become  thoroughly  and  openly  infidel. 

Isaac  Taylor. 

Isaac  Taylor,  LL.D.,  1787-1865,  studied  theology  originally  with 
the  intention  of  preaching,  and  afterwards  studied  law,  but  finally 
settled  down  into  the  life  of  a  literary  recluse,  living  in  the  country, 
and  sending  out,  from  time  to  time,  the  fruits  of  his  study  and  of  his 
musings.  His  works  are  scholarly  and  thoughtful,  though  quiet  and 
subdued  in  tone,  and  have  exercised  a  powerful  influence  upon,  the 
formation  of  opinion. 

His  best  known  work  is  the  Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm.  It 
was  published  anonymously,  and  made  so  deep  an  impression,  that 
when  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
the  highest  professorship  in  that  institution,  became  vacant.  Dr. 
Chalmers  publicly  called  upon  the  unknown  author  to  declare  him- 
self, and  become  a  candidate  for  the  ofiice.  Taylor  declared  himself 
accordingly,  and  came  near  being  elected,  though  the  rival  candidate 
was  no  less  a  man  than  Sir  William  Hamilton. 

Mrs.  Sherwood. 

Mrs.  Mary  M.  Sherwood,  1775-1851,  was  one  of  the  first  to  employ 
fiction  as  a  means  of  religious  instruction  to  the  young.  She  was  not 
only  a  voluminous  writer,  but  to  some  extent  was  the  founder  of  a 
school  of  writers.  The  great  popularity  of  some  of  her  religious  fic- 
tions for  the  young  has  contributed  largely  to  the  demand  for  books 
of  this  kind,  which  is  one  of  the  most  noticeable  features  in  the  reli- 
gious literature  of  the  day.  The  present  enormous  growth  of  Sunday- 
school  story-books  sprang  from  the  taste  created  by  the  works  of  Mrs. 
SherAvood,  and  of  a  few  other  writers  of  the  same  kind. 

The  two  stories  of  Mrs.  Sherwood's  which  are  best  known  are: 
Little  Henry  and  His  Bearer;  and  Little  Lucy  and  her  Dhaye. 
Probably  not  one  child  in  ten,  in  England  or  America,  has  passed 
through  the  Sunday-school  without  reading  these  two  stories,  which 
are  indeed  classics  of  their  kind. 

M 


178  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

V.  HISTORY,  BIOGRAPHY,  ANTIQUITIES,  ETC. 

Lingard. 

John  Lingard,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1771-1851,  gained  for  himself  lasting 
fame  by  his  History  of  England.  Lingard  was  educated  at  the  Cath- 
olic College  at  Douay,  in  France,  and  took  orders  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  but  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  composition  of  the 
great  work  already  referred  to.  This  was  a  History  of  England, 
from  the  First  Invasion  by  the  Romans  to  the  Accession  of  William 
and  Mary,  in  1668. 

Lingard's  History  has  been  subjected  to  severe  and  searching  criti- 
cism, and  has  been  denounced  by  some  as  a  partisan  work.  The 
most  deliberate  assault  was  that  made  by  the  Edinburgh  Review,  in 
which  the  reviewer  charged  the  author,  not  only  with  partisanship, 
but  with  falsifying  the  facts  of  history.  The  charges  were  so  gross, 
and  were  put  forth  with  so  much  boldness,  that  Dr.  Lingard  replied 
in  a  pamphlet  Vindication,  of  great  ability. 

Lingard's  work,  being  a  history  of  English  affairs  as  seen  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  being  the  fruit  of  original  and  care- 
ful study,  with  all  the  advantages  of  modern  criticism  and  research, 
led  many  Englishmen  doubtless  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  that  there 
were  two  sides  to  many  parts  of  the  story.  The  earnest  discussions, 
however,  which  ensued,  have  not  shaken  the  author's  credit  for  hon- 
esty. The  utmost  that  is  now  alleged  is,  that  in  telling  the  story  he 
lias  had  a  leaning  for  his  own  side  of  the  question,  and  that  his 
judgment  of  men  and  of  affairs  is  to  be  received  with  some  degree  of 
caution. 

Of  the  literary  merits  of  his  work,  there  has  been  but  one  opinion. 
All  his  critics,  the  Edinburgh  Reviewer  included,  award  him  the 
highest  praise  for  beauty  of  style. 

^  Sir  Archibald  Alison. 

Sir  Archibald  Alison,  1792-1867,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  is  highly  distinguished  as  an  historian,  and  as  a  writer  on 
political  economy  and  on  politics.  He  is  favorably  known  also  as  a 
writer  on  law.  The  most  important  by  far  of  all  his  works,  however, 
are  his  histories.  These  are  the  History  of  Europe  from  the  Com- 
mencement of  the  PVench  Revolution  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Bour- 
bons (1789-1815),  in  14  vols.,  8vo,  and  the  History  of  Europe  from 
1815  to  1852,  in  6  vols.     To  these  should  be  added  his  Life  of  the 


WORDSWORTH    AND    CONTEMPORARIES.      179 

Duke  of  Marlborough,  intended  to  be  read  as  an  introduction  to  the 
two  preceding. 

Mr.  Alison  is  a  high  Tory  in  politics,  and  this  has  tinctured  to  some 
extent  his  views  of  public  affairs.  Yet  he  has  never  been  accused, 
even  by  his  political  opponents,  of  perverting  the  facts  of  history. 

Sharon  Turner. 

Sharon  Turner^  1768-1847,  made  several  important  contributions 
to  history.  His  best  known  publication  is  a  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  comprising  the  history  of  England  from  the  earliest  period 
to  the  Korman  Conquest. 

Lord  Campbell. 

John,  Lord  Campbell,  1779-1861,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  a  son 
of  Dr.  George  Campbell,  the  author  of  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  at- 
tained great  eminence  as  a  lawyer  and  a  statesman  ;  was  raised  to  the 
peerage,  and  made  Lord  Chancellor  of  England.  He  wrote  the  Lives 
of  the  Lord  Chancellors,  7  vols.,  8vo,  and  the  Lives  of  the  Chief  Jus- 
tices, 3  vols.  His  Lives  of  the  Chancellors  and  of  the  Chief  Justices 
are  regarded  as  of  great  historical  value,  besides  being  written  in  a 
pleasing  and  attractive  style. 


VI.    MISCELLANEOUS  WRITERS. 

Arnold  of  Rugby. 

Thomas  Arnold,  D.  D.,  1795-1842,  is  known  the  world  over  as 
"Arnold  of  Rugby,"  from  the  great  educational  work  which  he  per- 
formed in  that  renowned  school.  Arnold  was  Head  Master  of  Rugby 
from  1827  to  the  time  of  his  death.  During  the  last  two  years  of  his 
life  he  was  also  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  Oxford.  His 
principal  works  are :  History  of  Rome  (unfinished) ;  Lectures  on 
Modern  History;  and  Sermons  (3  vols.).  He  published  also  an  edi- 
tion of  Thucydides,  showing  fine  critical  power  and  ripe  scholarship. 

The  great  work  of  Arnold,  however,  was  the  religious  life  which  he  in- 
fused into  the  Rugby  School,  and  through  it,  by  example,  into  the  other 
great  public  schools  of  England  where  most  of  the  sons  of  high-born 
Englishmen  are  educated.  This  work  he  accomplished,  partly  by  the 
singular  vigor  and  force  of  his  intellectual  character,  but  mainly  by 
the  thorough,  inwrought  religiousness  of  his  own  life.  It  was  what 
he  was,  quite  as  much  as  what  he  did,  that  made  him  a  power  among 
his  boys. 


180  ENGLISH    L.ITERATUEE. 

Arnold's  Life  and  Correspondence,  by  Stanley,  has  been  published 
in  2  vols.  But  the  best  picture  of  the  daily  life  of  the  great  Hea^ 
Master  is  to  be  found  in  Tom  Brown's  School-Days  at  Eugby,  by 
Hughes. 

Matthew  Arnold. 

Matthew  Arnold,  1822 ,  a  son  of  Arnold  of  Rugby,  was  elected 

in  1857  Professor  of  Poetry  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

His  chief  publications  are :  Essays  in  Criticism ;  Culture  and  Anar- 
chy ;  Schools  and  Universities  of  the  Continent. 

Archibald  Alison. 

Archibald  Alison,  1757-1839,  father  of  the  historian,  is  chiefly 
known  by  his  work  on  the  Nature  and  Principles  of  Taste,  first  pub- 
lished in  1790. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
Tennyson  and  his  Contemporaries. 

(1850-1873.) 

The  last  period  of  our  work  begins  with  1850,  and  continues  to  the 
present  time.  After  the  death  of  Wordsworth,  in  1850,  the  undisputed 
chief  of  English  letters  was  Alfred  Tennyson,  Poet-Laureate.  Tenny- 
son began  to  be  distinguished  about  the  time  that  Victoria  became 
Queen,  and  his  career  as  a  poet  is  intimately  associated  with  the  reign 
of  that  great  and  good  sovereign. 

The  writers  of  this  period  are  divided  into  seven  sections :  1.  The 
Poets,  beginning  with  Tennyson ;  2.  The  Novelists,  beginning  with 
Dickens ;  3.  Writers  on  Literature  and  Politics,  beginning  with  Car- 
lyle ;  4.  Writers  on  Philosophy  and  Science,  beginning  with  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hamilton;  5.  Writers  on  History,  Biography,  Antiquities,  and 
Travel,  beginning  with  Macaulay  ;  6.  Writers  on  Theology  and  Keli- 
gion,  beginning  with  John  Henry  Newman ;  7.  Miscellaneous  Writers, 
beginning  with  the  Howitts. 

I.    THE    POETS. 

Tennyson. 

Alfred  Tennyson,  1810  ,  Poet-Laureate,  is  one  of  the  few  thus 

honored  who  have  really  deserved  the  distinction. 

Like  Wordsworth,  Tennyson  rose  by  slow  degrees  into  full  an<i» 
complete  recognition ;  and  nothing  is  more  noteworthy  in  his  career 
than  the  calm  deliberation  and  design  with  which  every  part  of  his 
career  as  an  author  has  been  planned.  His  works  bear,  to  a  less  de- 
gree than  those  of  any  known  author,  the  mark  of  chance  or  of  haste ; 
16  181 


182  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

they  are,  on  the  contrary,  the  legitimate  fruits  of  the  highest  order  of 
genius  united  with  the  most  patient  toil. 

Tennyson  was  born  at  Somersby,  Lincolnshire.  His  life  has  been 
an  uneventful  one,  passed  for  a  time  in  study  at  Cambridge,  with  young 
Hallam,  whose  early  death  furnished  the  text  for  In  Memoriam ;  then 
in  studious  retirement  at  Farringford  House,  Isle  of  Wight ;  and,  since 
1869,  at  Petersfield  in  Hampshire. 

His  first  independent  volume  appeared  in  1830,  under  the  title : 
Poems,  chiefly  Lyrical.  Then,  for  many  years,  the  poet  seemed  to  be 
dormant.  At  length,  in  1847,  appeared  the  Princess.  This  fairy 
stranger  was  at  first  a  puzzle  to  the  critics.  The  grim  veterans  of  the 
Edinburgh  and  the  Quarterly  knew  not  what  to  make  of  its  apparent 
fantastic  incongruity,  and  almost  shut  their  eyes  to  the  depth  of  under- 
lying thought.  Twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  then,  and  the  Prin- 
cess is  now  recognized  in  its  true  character,  as  a  profound  and  artistic 
handling  of  a  great  living  question. 

Two  years  later,  in  1849,  appeared  his  masterpiece,  In  Memoriam, 
in  commemoration  of  a  young  friend,  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  who  had 
died  sixteen  years  before.  It  explains  the  author's  long  silence.  In 
Memoriam  is  the  growth  of  years  of  grief  and  self-communing  ;  it  is 
the  quintessence  of  sorrow,  crystallized  into  the  most  poetic  form,  and 
generalized  for  all  mankind.  The  poet  has  here  struck  every  chord 
of  woe  in  the  human  heart ;  he  has  a  message  for  every  mourner,  a 
word  of  sympathy  for  every  Job-like  doubter.  There  is  not,  in  any 
language,  a  poem  that  has  a  nobler  mission,  and  fulfils  that  mission 
more  nobly,  than  In  Memoriam.  It  is  not  the  selfish  wailing  of  a  man 
over  the  loss  of  his  friend ;  it  is  the  lamentation  of  the  poet  Jeremiah 
over  all  human  woe. 

In  singular  contrast  to  In  Memoriam  came  Tennyson's  next  poem  — 
Maud.  This  very  contrast,  perhaps,  was  one  of  the  reasons  why 
Maud  was  at  first  received  so  coldly  by  the  reviewers.  But  all  doubts 
and  dismal  prognostications  were  dispelled  by  the  appearance  of  the 
Idylls  of  the  King.  The  success  of  the  Idylls  was  paralleled  only  by 
that  of  In  Memoriam.  In  some  respects  it  is  perhaps  a  more  popular 
book. 

Tennyson  is  essentially  a  lyric  poet,  of  the  impassioned  but  reflective 
order ;  he  is  the  child  of  the  present  generation  in  all  its  culture,  its 
refinement,  its  tendency  to  doubt,  its  love  of  artistic  form.  His  style 
is  the  most  finished  since  the  days  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton.  At 
times,  indeed,  it  seems  almost  too  faultless,  and  makes  the  reader  wish 
for  a  little  of  Browning's  ruggedness.  In  the  choice  of  words,  espe- 
cially of  predicates,  and  in  the  adaptation  of  old  or  almost  obsolete 


TENNYSON    AND     HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      183 

words  to  new  uses,  Tennyson  has  not  his  equal  in  modern  English 
literature.  Whether  we  read  the  Lady  of  Shallot,  or  Locksley  Hall, 
or  the  Vision  of  Art,  or  In  Memoriam,  or  the  Idylls  of  the  King, 
we  find  everywhere  the  most  exquisite  adjustment  of  word  to  thought, 
the  rarest  suggestiveness  of  imagery,  and  the  most  perfect  freedom 
and  variety  of  construction.  In  style,  certainly,  Tennyson  is  the  first 
model  after  Milton. 

Robert  'Browning. 

Robert  Browning,  1812 ,  stands  conspicuous  among  the  poets 

of  his  day,  being  inferior  to  Tennyson  only.  Mr.  Browning  was  mar- 
ried in  1846  to  the  poetess  Elizabeth  Barrett,  since  which  time  he  has 
lived  on  the  continent,  and  chiefly  at  Florence,  in  Italy. 

Mr.  Browning's  first  publication  was  Paracelsus.  It  was  highly 
commended  by  the  critics,  but  met  with  little  popular  favor.  He  next 
produced  the  Tragedy  of  Strafford,  which  in  the  opinion  of  good 
judges  ought  to  have  been  successful,  but  somehow  it  did  not  succeed, 
though  presented  by  no  less  an  actor  than  Macready.  So  has  it  been 
pretty  much  with  all  of  Mr.  Browning's  writings.  They  give  unmis- 
takable evidences  of  genius,  but  they  are  not  popular.  The  author 
does  not  court  popularity,  and  apparently  does  not  value  it,  not  present 
popularity  at  least,  preferring  to  await  the  verdict  of  "  those  who  shall 
come  after."  But  there  is  a  studied  obscurity  in  his  meaning,  particu- 
larly in  his  works  of  greatest  mark,  which  will  be  quite  as  repellent  to 
readers  of  the  twentieth  century  as  to  those  of  the  nineteenth.  He 
will  probably  always  have,  as  he  now  has,  a  few  devoted  worshippers, 
but  he  will  never  be  the  idol  of  the  many.  The  critics  will  laud,  but 
the  people  will  not  read. 

Other  Works.  —  His  principal  works,  in  addition  to  those  already 
named,  are  Sordello;  Pippa  Passes,  a  Drama;  The  Blot  in  the 
'Scutcheon,  a  Drama ;  The  Ring  and  the  Book.  The  poem  last  named 
is  his  largest  work,  and  the  one  in  which  all  his  peculiarities,  good 
and  bad,  are  most  strongly  marked.  Some  of  his  short  pieces,  like 
The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin,  and  How  we  Brought  the  Good  News 
from  Ghent  to  Aix,  are  those  by  which  he  has  gained  his  chief  popu- 
larity. 

Mrs.  Bro^A''ning. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  1807-1861,  is  generally  admitted 
to  be  the  greatest  of  English  poetesses. 

Early  Career.  —  Mrs.  Browning  (Elizabeth  Barrett)  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  wealthy  merchant  of  London,  and  had  the  advantage  of  a 


184  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

superior  education.  She  was,  in  particular,  thoroughly  versed  in  the 
Latin  and  Greek  languages.  She  began  authorship  very  early  in 
life,  writing  both  in  prose  and  verse  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  publishing 
a  volume  of  poems  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Her  health  was  always  deli- 
cate, so  that  she  was  unable  to  bear  the  strain  of  the  highest  intellec- 
tual achievements.  Had  her  physical  powers  been  commensurate  with 
her  intellectual,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  assign  a  limit  to  what  she  might 
have  accomplished.  She  undoubtedly  had  genius  of  the  highest  order. 
But  a  great  poem,  or  a  great  work  of  art  of  any  kind,  can  only  be 
produced. by  the  expenditure  of  great  and  long-continued  labor,  and 
to  such  labor  Mrs.  Browning's  physical  frame  was  at  no  time  adequate. 
What  she  achieved,  therefore,  brilliant  as  much  of  it  was,  and  enduring 
as  some  of  it  doubtless  will  be,  must  yet  be  accepted  rather  as  an  inti- 
mation of  what  she  might  have  done  than  its  full  realization. 

Works.  —  Her  largest  single  work  is  Aurora  Leigh,  a  narrative 
poem,  which  met  with  immediate  and  general  favor.  Casa  Guidi 
Windows,  written  in  Italy,  and  giving  expression  to  her  thoughts  and 
feelings  on  Italian  affairs,  is  thought  to  contain  the  finest  efforts  of  her 
genius.  Some  of  her  other  publications  are :  The  Drama  of  Exile ; 
Prometheus  Bound,  a  translation  from  the  Greek ;  Lady  Geraldine's 
Courtship  ;  The  Cry  of  the  Children.  Her  Sonnets  deserve  particular 
mention ;  they  are  numerous,  and  of  extraordinary  excellence.  Many 
a  single  sonnet  in  the  collection  is  enough  to  make  a  reputation.  The 
Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese,  so  called,  are  thought  to  describe  the 
love-making  between  her  and  Mr.  Browning. 

She  was  happily  married  in  1846  to  the  poet  Robert  Browning,  and 
lived  thereafter  on  the  continent,  chiefly  in  Italy,  to  the  manifest  im- 
provement of  her  health.  The  poems  of  these  later  years  are  by  far 
her  best. 

Mrs.  Norton. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Elizabeth  Sarah  Norton,  1808  ,  is  a  poetess  of 

no  little  celebrity.  She  is  a  grand-daughter  of  Richard  Brinsley 
Sheridan.  She  began  her  career  as  a  writer  very  early  in  life.  At 
the  age  of  twelve  she  wrote  a  satire,  The  Dandies'  Rout,  and,  at  seven- 
teen, The  Sorrows  of  Rosalie.  Her  first  work  of  merit,  however,  is 
The  Undying  One,  a  poem  published  in  1830.  Since  that  time  she 
has  given  to  the  world  a  number  of  tales  and  poems.  The  Voice  from 
the  Factories  and  The  Child  of  the  Islands,  like  Mrs.  Browning's  Cry 
of  the  Children,  are  vigorous  protests  against  the  degraded  condition 
of  the  English  poor. 


TENNYSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPOKAEIES.      185 

Procter  — "Barry  Cornwall." 

Bryan  Waller  Procter,  1790  ,  better  known  as  "  Barry  Corn- 
wall," was  a  poet  of  great  merit.  Mr.  Procter  forms  a  connecting  link 
between  the  present  generation  and  one  that  has  already  become  his- 
torical. So  late  even  as  18G6,  he  came  before  the  public  with  a  new 
work  of  considerable  size,  yet  he  was  famous  fifty  years  ago ;  —  the 
contemporary  and  associate  of  Byron  and  Moore. 

Mr.  Procter's  first  publication,  Dramatic  Scenes,  appeared  in  1821. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  reproduce  some  of  the  best  features  of  the  older 
English  drama,  and  was  remarkably  successful. 

Some  of  Mr.  Procter's  other  publications  are:  Portraits  of  the 
British  Poets,  illustrated  by  Notes,  Biographical,  Critical,  and  Poet- 
ical ;  English  Songs  and  other  small  Poems ;  Essays  and  Tales  in 
Prose. 

Adelaide  Procter. 

Adelaide  Anne  Procter,  1825-1864,  daughter  of  the  poet  Procter,  is 
herself  a  poet  by  divine  right.  She  is  the  "golden-tressed  Adelaide" 
celebrated  in  one  of  her  father's  songs. 

Her  first  considerable  publication  was  in  1858,  a  volume  entitled 
Legends  and  Lyrics.  It  met  with  immediate  success,  and  passed 
through  a  large  number  of  editions.  A  second  series  of  Legends  and 
Lyrics  appeared  in  1860. 

Philip  James  Bailey. 

Philip  James  Bailey,  1816  ,  published  at  the  age  of  twenty  a 

poem  called  Festus,  wl^ch  created  a  great  sensation.  "It  was  an 
extraordinary  production,  out-Heroding  Kant  in  some  of  its  philosophy, 
and  out-Goetheing  Goethe  in  the  introduction  of  the  three  persons  of  the 
Trinity  as  interlocutors  in  its  wild  plot.  Most  objectionable  as  it  was 
on  this  account,  it  yet  contained  many  exquisite  passages  of  genuine 
poetry."     The  poem  was  subsequently  both  pruned  and  enlarged. 

Aytoun. 
William  Edmondstone  Aytoun,  1813-1865,  son-in-law  of  Professor 
Wilson  (Christopher  North),  and  Professor  of  Literature  and  Belles- 
Lettres  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  was  for  many  years  also  a 
contributor  and  finally  editor  of  Blackwood's  Magazine.  Prof. 
Aytoun's  publications  are  numerous.  The  following  are  the  principal : 
Lays  of  the  Scottish  Cavaliers ;  Firrailian,  a  Spasmodic  Tragedy ;  Bal- 
lads of  Scotland.  The  ballads  are  highly  commended  by  all  the  critics. 
16* 


186  ENGLISH    LITERATUKE. 

The  Spasmodic  Tragedy  is  designed  to  satirize  some  modern  mani- 
festations of  a  false  and  extravagant  taste  in  poetry.  The  Lays  is  by 
far  his  most  popular  work. 

Bonar. 

Horatius  Bonar,  D.D.,  1808 ,  is  a  religious  poet  of  singular 

sweetness  and  beauty,  many  of  whose  sacred  lyrics  have  already  found 
their  way  into  the  hymnals  of  nearly  every  Protestant  church. 

Biekersteth. 

Eev.  Edward  Henry  Biekersteth, ,  son  of  the  Kev.  Ed- 
ward Biekersteth,  has  become  widely  known  as  the  author  of  an  epic 
poem  called  Yesterday,  To-day,  and  Forever. 

Charlotte  Elliott. 

Charlotte  Elliott, 1871,  is  known  among  all  English-speaking 

Christians  by  her  beautiful  hymn.  Just  as  I  Am.  She  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  John  Venn.  She  lived  during  the  greater  part  of 
her  life  at  Torquay,  but  spent  her  last  years  at  Brighton.  She  pub- 
lished Hours  of  Sorrow,  1836;  Morning  and  Evening  Hymns  for  a 
Week,  1842;  Poems,  1863.  She  was  through  life  an  invalid  and  suf- 
ferer, and  much  of  her  own  experience  is  breathed  into  her  hymns. 

Jean  Ingelow. 

Jean  Ingelow,  1830 ,  is  favorably  known  as  a  poet  and  as  a 

writer  of  tales  and  sketches.  She  was  born  in  Boston,  Lincolnshire, 
England,  but  has  resided  most  of  her  life  in  London.  Her  first  vol- 
ume of  poems  was  published  in  1863,  and  at  once  gave  her  rank  as  one 
of  the  greatest  living  female  poets.  Her  second  volume  of  poems  was 
published  in  1867,  and  her  last  in  1870.  She  has  written  five  volumes 
of  prose  stories  for  children,  which  have  had  a  large  sale.  One  of  her 
poems,  High  Tide  on  the  Coast  of  Lancashire,  has  been  a  great  favor- 
ite with  American  readers. 

Morris. 

William  Morris,  1830 ,  without  any  preliminary  heralding,  rose 

at  once  to  fame  by  the  publication,  in  1867,  of  a  long  narrative  poem, 
the  Life  and  Death  of  Jason,  and,  in  the  years  1868-1871,  of  a  still 
longer  poem,  the.  Earthly  Paradise. 

These  poems  are  unlike  any  others  in  our  literature,  though  more 


TENNYSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      187 

suggestive  of  the  poetry  of  Chaucer  than  of  anything  else,  and  they 
place  the  author  unquestionably  in  the  rank  of  great  poets. 

The  Earthly  Paradise  consists  of  legends  derived  from  the  classical 
and  mediajval  periods,  set  in  a  framework  belonging  to  the  age  of 
Chaucer.  "  Certain  gentlemen  and  mariners  of  Norway,  having  con- 
sidered all  that  they  had  heard  of  the  Earthly  Paradise,  set  sail  to  find 
it,  and  after  many  troubles,  and  the  lapse  of  many  years,  came,  old 
men,  to  some  western  land  of  which  they  had  never  before  heard." 
Missing  the  "  Happy  Isles,"  which  poets  had  fabled,  the  worn  and 
disappointed  Wanderers  find  some  comfort  in  the  hospitality  extended 
to  them  by  the  Elders  of  this  western  city.  Twice  each  month,  at  a 
solemn  feast  made  for  their  entertainment,  some  chronicle  of  the  olden 
time  is  rehearsed,  alternately  by  one  of  the  city  Elders  and  by  one  of 
the  "Wanderers.  The  chronicles  rehearsed  by  the  city  Eiders  are 
classical,  being  legends  from  the  Greek  mythology ;  those  rehearsed 
by  the  Wanderers  are  taken  from  other  traditions,  chiefly  mediaeval. 
The  twelve  months  of  the  year  thus  give  occasion  for  twenty-four  of 
these  chronicles,  each  chronicle  being  by  itself  a  long  narrative  poem. 
Between  the  several  pairs  of  chronicles  are  pleasant  interludes  of  song, 
keeping  up  the  connection  of  the  whole  with  the  original  adventure. 
The  whole  poem  makes  a  large  work  about  the  size  of  the  Canterbury 
Tales. 

II.  THE  NOVELISTS. 

Dickens. 

Charles  Dickens,  1812-1870,  was,  on  the  whole,  the  greatest  novel- 
ist of  his  day,  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  time. 

His  Career.  —  Dickens  was  designed  for  the  profession  of  the  law, 
and  began  studying  for  that  purpose,  but  not  finding  the  business 
congenial,  he  became  a  reporter  of  the  parliamentary  debates  for 
some  of  the  London  papers.  While  engaged  in  this  work  for  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  he  wrote  for  the  evening  edition  of  that  paper 
Sketches  of  Life  and  Character  by  Boz.  These  Sketches  immediately 
arrested  attention.  One  of  the  booksellers  thereupon  engaged  Dick- 
ens to  write,  and  a  comic  draughtsman  to  illustrate,  the  adventures 
of  a  party  of  cockney  sportsmen.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  famous 
Pickwick  Papers  by  Boz,  with  Illustrations  by  Phiz.  The  book  was 
instantly  and  universally  popular.  All  England  and  America  were 
in  a  roar  over  Pickwick,  and  Sam  Weller,  and  the  other  notabilities 
of  that  wonderful  book.  From  that  date  onward  the  author  was  in 
constant  demand,  the  greedy  public,  like  his  own  Oliver,  ever  "  ask- 


188  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

ing  for  more ; "  and  he  continued,  up  to  the  very  day  of  his  death,  to 
pour  forth  book  after  book  with  unceasing  and  most  prolific  activity. 

In  1841  Mr.  Dickens  visited  the  United  States,  where  he  was  lion- 
ized extensively,  and  on  his  return  to  England,  he  published  in  the 
following  year  American  Notes  for  General  Circulation.  Some  of 
his  laughable  caricatures  of  American  manners  and  society  gave 
great  umbrage,  the  Americans  then  being  more  thin-skinned  in  such 
matters  than  they  have  since  become,  and  forgetting  that  the  humor- 
ist was  doing  for  us  exactly  what  we  admired  so  much  and  enjoyed  so 
heartily  in  his  dealings  with  his  own  countrymen.  In  his  next  suc- 
ceeding novel,  Martin  Chuzzlewit,  in  which  the  hero  has  experience 
of  American  life,  the  same  features  appeared,  and  we  Americans  be- 
came seriously  and  most  absurdly  angry.  But  this  feeling  gradually 
passed  away,  and  when,  near  the  close  of  his  life,  he  again  visited  our 
country,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  course  of  public  readings,  he  was 
everywhere  received  with  the  most  hearty  welcome. 

In  1850  he  started  a  weekly  paper.  Household  Words,  which  he 
conducted  for  several  years,  and  which  had  a  very  large  circulation. 
In  1859  he  began  another  periodical  of  similar  character,  called  All 
the  Year  Round.  Most  of  his  novels  and  tales  appeared  first  as  seri- 
als in  the  periodicals  with  which  he  was  connected.  For  many  years 
before  his  death  he  published  annually  a  Christmas  Story.  These 
Christmas  Stories  became  a  notable  feature  in  his  authorship,  and  are 
among  his  very  happiest  efforts. 

The  following  are  his  principal  works :  Pickwick  Papers ;  Oliver 
Twist;  Nicholas  Nickleby;  Master  Humphrey's  Clock;  Barnaby 
Eudge ;  Martin  Chuzzlewit ;  Dombey  and  Son  ;  David  Copperfield ; 
Bleak  House;  Hard  Times;  Little  Dorrit;  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities; 
Great  Expectations ;  Our  Mutual  Friend ;  The  Commercial  Traveller ; 
Sketches  by  Boz. 

Mr.  Dickens  was  an  excellent  reader,  and  he  had  all  the  talents 
and  qualities  needed  to  become  a  first-rate  actor.  Towards  the  close 
of  his  life  he  gave  public  Readings  of  portions  of  his  own  works,  with 
great  applause ;  and  his  second  visit  to  America,  w^hich  was  in  1867, 
was  for  this  purpose.  It  was  strictly  a  professional  tour,  and  was 
eminently  successful.  He  gave  a  great  pleasure  to  many  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  his  admirers,  and  added  by  the  tour  both  to  his  fame 
and  his  fortune. 

Dickens  died  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  his  literary  labors,  and  in 
the  full  maturity  of  his  powers.  His  constitution,  both  mental  and 
physical,  was  extremely  active  and  vigorous,  capable,  apparently,  of 
any  amount  of  work  that  his  royal  will  saw  fit  to  impose ;  and,  in  the 


TENNYSON^    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORAEIES.      189 

consciousness  of  this  abounding  strength,  he  drew  too  freely  upon  his 
vital  force.  He  even  went  further,  and  stimulated  his  flagging  ener- 
gies by  an  over-generous  diet  and  by  the  free  use  of  strong  drinks,  to 
enable  him  to  bear  the  enormous  strain  put  upon  his  powers,  until  at 
length  nature  gave  way,  and  he  died  in  the  very  height  and  flood-tide 
of  abounding  life. 

Thackeray. 

William  Makepeace  Thackeray,  1811-1863,  shares  with  Dickens 
and  Bulwer  in  the  supremacy  of  the  world  of  fiction. 

He  was  educated  at  the  Charter-House  School,  London,  and  at 
Cambridge.  He  inherited  a  handsome  fortune,  which  he  lost  and 
wasted.  For  some  time  he  studied  art  in  England  and  on  the  conti- 
nent, but  finally  decided  upon  literature  as  a  vocation.  He  became  a 
regular  contributor  to  Fraser,  Punch,  the  Times,  the  New  Monthly 
Magazine,  and  other  periodicals.  Many  of  his  most  brilliant  sketches 
appeared  in  this  fugitive  form.  Among  them  are  the  Book  of  Snobs, 
Fitzboodle's  Confessions,  and  Mr.  Micliael  Angelo  Titmarsh's  numer- 
ous sketches  and  essays. 

Thackeray's  first  great  work.  Vanity  Fair,  appeared  as  a  serial  in 
1847-8.  It  was  followed  in  order  by  Pendennis,  Harry  Esmond,  The 
Newcomes,  and  The  Virginians.  Besides  these  great  works  of  fiction 
should  be  mentioned  his  Lectures  on  the  English  Humorists  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  and  on  the  Four  Georges. 

Thackeray,  like  Dickens,  is  intensely  realistic.  He  describes  men 
and  women  as  he  finds  them  in  the  world  in  which  he  lives.  In  his 
method,  however,  he  difiers  widely  from  Dickens,  and  shows  his  own 
immense  superiority.  He  does  not  content  himself  with  drawing  por- 
traits or  caricatures ;  he  takes  a  strongly  marked  character,  divests  it 
of  everything  merely  accidental,  makes  it  general,  and  thus  creates  a 
type  of  character.  Thus  Major  Pendennis  and  young  Pen  himself  are 
not  merely  individuals;  they  are  types  of  their  whole  class.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Becky  Sharp,  Ethel  Newcome,  Beatrix  Esmond. 
By  the  side  of  them,  the  Pecksniffs,  Gradgrinds,  Squeerses,  fade  away 
into  mere  names  —  labels  for  bundles  of  hateful  qualities. 

It  is  difficult  to  pronounce  upon  the  comparative  merits  of  Thacke- 
ray's works.  Perhaps  Harry  Esmond  is  the  most  artistic,  Vanity  Fair 
the  cleverest,  and  The  Newcomes  the  most  satisfactory.  Nothing  in 
them,  however,  surpasses,  as  a  creation,  the  faultless  figure  of  Major 
Pendennis.  No  one,  not  even  Shakespeare,  could  have  exhausted 
more  completely  the  characteristics  of  bachelor-uncledom. 

In  style,  Thackeray  is  most  happy.     His  pages  tingle  with  satire, 


190  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

or  radiate  with  broad  humor.  There  is  no  vagueness,  no  weakness,  in 
the  strokes  with  whicli  he  portrays  or  narrates.  Everything  suggests 
healthy  life,  thought,  and  emotion.  Even  his  minor  works  display 
the  same  unerring  hand.  His  Lectures,  also,  are  full  of  healthy 
humor  and  sound  analysis.  In  short,  as  a  man  and  a  writer,  Tliacke- 
ray  has  left,  by  his  death,  a  void  in  English  letters  which  will  not 
soon  be  filled,  and  a  fame  second  only  to  that  of  Scott. 

Bulwer-Lytton. 

Sir  Edward  George  Bulwer-Lytton,  1805  ,  stands  clearly  in  the 

first  class  of  English  novelists.  Bulwer,  Thackeray,  and  Dickens 
form  a  trio  of  great  names,  so  nearly  equal  that  it  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine which  should  bear  the  palm.  Each  has  his  advocates ;  each  has, 
in  fact,  a  greatness  of  his  own,  differing  in  kind,  rather  than  in  degree, 
from  that  of  the  others. 

Lord  Lytton,  or  Bulwer,  as  he  is  generally  known  to  American 
readers,  evinced  very  early  in  life  an  aptitude  for  letters.  He  may  be 
considered,  however,  to  have  fairly  made  his  debut  as  an  author  in 
1828,  by  the  publication  of  Pelham.  Since  that  time  an  unremitting 
stream  of  novels  and  other  works  has  poured  from  his  pen.  These 
are  so  well  known  in  England  and  America  that  a  complete  list  of 
them  is  scarcely  necessary  in  this  place. 

His  principal  novels  are  Pelham ;  Devereux ;  Eugene  Aram ;  The 
Last  Days  of  Pompeii ;  Rienzi ;  Harold,  the  Last  of  the  Saxon  Kings ; 
The  Caxtons ;  My  Novel ;  What  will  He  do  with  It ;  A  Strange 
Story.  He  has  also  published  several  dramas,  of  which  Eichelieu 
and  The  Lady  of  Lyons  are  the  most  famous ;  The  New  Timon  and 
Other  Poems ;  and  many  poems  and  ballads  translated  from  Schiller. 
In  the  field  of  politics  he  has  distinguished  himself  as  a  pamphleteer 
by  The  Crisis,  Letters  to  John  Bull,  Esq.,  and  other  able  writings  of 
the  kind. 

The  preceding  sketch  is  only  an  outline  of  Bulwer's  varied,  intense, 
and  protracted  labors.  He  is  probably  the  most  prolific  English 
writer  of  fame  in  the  present  century,  and,  in  company  with  Scott, 
Dickens,  and  Thackeray,  is  one  of  those  most  widely  read. 

Those  of  his  novels  which  have  their  scene  in  England  portray  the 
society  of  the  upper  classes  almost  exclusively.  They  are  full  of  life 
and  energy,  the  characters  are  strongly  marked,  the  plot  is  deeply 
laid,  if  not  always  probable,  and  the  language  flows  smoothly,,  and  at 
times  even  eloquently.  It  must  be  objected,  to  his  novels,  however, 
that  they  have  a  feature  of  sameness.     That  is  to  say,  the  same  funda- 


TENNYSON     AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      191 

mental  characters  of  ex-minister,  the  young  lord  his  friend,  unknown 
heir,  villain,  etc.,  are  repeated,  in  slightly  yaried  forms,  through  a 
long  series  of  works.  The  language,  too,  is  often  grandiloquent  rather 
than  eloquent,  and  the  style  is  diffuse.  His  historical  novels  display 
great  reading  and  remarkable  powers  of  invention ;  Harold,  Kienzi, 
and  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  are,  as  art-constructions,  superior  to 
anything  in  their  line  except  Thackeray's  Esmond  and  Virginians. 

Bulwer  cannot  be  said  to  have  created  any  new  types  of  character. 
He  has  portrayed  certain  features  and  elements  of  English  society,  and 
classified  the  characters  which  compose  that  society.  But  he  has  pro- 
duced no  grand  creations,  that  will  be  handed  down  to  coming  gen- 
erations as  models  —  no  such  men  and  women  as  Jennie  Deans,  Caleb 
Balderstone,  Becky  Sharp,  Major  Pendennis,  Mrs.  Gamp,  Mr.  Micaw- 
ber,  and  many  others  that  might  be  selected  from  the  works  of  his 
great  contemporaries. 

Disraeli  — Father  and  Son. 

Isaac  Disraeli,  1766-1848,  was  of  Jewish  extraction,  the  son  of  a 
Venetian  merchant,  but  was  born  in  England,  near  London,  and  was 
educated  at  Leyden  and  Amsterdam.  Having  literary  tastes,  and 
ample  means  for  their  indulgence,  Mr.  Disraeli  addicted  himself 
through  life  to  investigations  which  have  redounded  greatly  to  the 
benefit  of  English  letters. 

His  chief  works  are :  Curiosities  of  Literature ;  Calamities  of 
Authors ;  Quarrels  of  Authors ;  Amenities  of  Literature. 

Et.  Hon.  Benjamin  Disraeli,  1805  ,  son  of  Isaac,  added  to 

the  literary  tastes  of  his  father  a  strong  passion  and  talent  for  political 
life. 

Mr.  Disraeli  published  his  first  work,  Vivian  Grey,  in  1826,  when 
he  was  only  twenty-one  years  old,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
now  almost  half  a  century,  he  has  been  a  man  of  mark,  and  has  been 
continually  rising. 

In  political  life,  after  several  sharp  contests  and  defeats,  he  succeeded 
in  getting  into  Parliament.  There  he  has  signalized  himself  by  bril- 
liant abilities  as  a  debater ;  he  rose  to  be  at  different  times  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  and  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  finally,  in 
1868,  to  be  Prime  Minister.  The  Tory  and  aristocratic  party,  of  which 
he  is  a  member,  dislike  and  distrust  him,  but  cannot  dispense  with 
the  aid  of  a  leader  of  such  brilliant  abilities,  and  have  yielded  some 
of  their  most  cherished  notions  rather  than  break  with  him. 

Busy  as  has  been  his  political  life,  Mr.  Disraeli  has  found  leisure  to 
keep  himself  constantly  before  the  public  as  an  author,  and  his  publi- 


192  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

cations  have  been  almost  as  numerous  as  the  years.  His  principal 
productions  are  the  following :  Vivian  Grey ;  Voyage  of  Capt.  Popa- 
nilla;  Contarini  Fleming;  Alroy,  the  Wondrous  Tale;  Henrietta 
Temple ;  Venetia ;  Coningsby ;  Sibyl,  or  the  New  Nation ;  Ixion  in 
Heaven ;  Tancred,  or  the  New  Crusade  ;  Lothair. 

Lothair,  the  last  of  Mr.  Disraeli's  fictions,  was  written  in  the  midst 
of  his  most  engrossing  occupations  as  a  political  leader  in  Parliament, 
and  created  a  prodigious  sensation  on  account  of  its  but  thinly  veiled 
pictures  of  living  men  and  women  in  the  very  highest  circles  of  Eng- 
lish society.  A  vein  of  scandal,  indeed,  runs  through  nearly  all  his 
fictions,  beginning  with  Vivian  Grey. 

Trollope  — Mother  and  Sons. 

Mrs.  Frances  Trollope,  1863,  mother  of  the  two  dis- 
tinguished sons  of  the  same  name,  W3^  herself  a  writer  of  no  mean 
abilities.  She  passed  three  years  in  America,  and  afterwards  travelled 
and  resided  a  number  of  years  on  the  continent.  In  1831  she  published 
two  volumes  on  the  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans,  which  gave 
great  dissatisfaction  to  the  nation  described.  The  book  was  one  of  the 
many  of  like  kind  on  that  subject,  wHose  appearance  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  was  the  regular  signal  for  denunciation  and  counter-denun- 
ciation. Mrs.  Trollope's  work  contained  a  fair  share  of  gossipy  truth, 
many  mistakes,  and  not  a  few  absurdities.  It  was  succeeded  by  one  or 
two  other  books  of  travel,  and  a  formidable  list  of  novels,  which  were 
in  great  favor  at  the  time,  but  which  are  now  neglected  for  more 
recent  favorites. 

Anthony  Trollope,  1815 -,  son  of  the  preceding,  has  attained 

great  eminence  as  a  writer  of  novels.  His  novels  are  so  numerous  and 
so  uniformly  good  that  it  is  rather  difiicult  to  specialize  among  them. 
La  Vendee,  Barchester  Towers,  The  Bertrams,  Orley  Farm,  may  per- 
haps be  cited  as  the  best.  As  a  writer  of  prose  fiction,  Mr.  Trollope 
may  be  set  down  as  among  the  very  foremost  in  the  second  class  — 
reserving  the  first  class  for  such  magnates  as  Scott,  Thackeray,  Dick- 
ens, and  Bulwer.  He  has  not  created  any  really  great  characters, 
either  male  or  female,  or  invented  any  remarkable  narratives.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  his  novels  are  intensely  realistic  portraitures  of 
English  social  life.  All  his  works  are  clothed  in  an  atmosphere  of 
healthy  and  robust  purity,  alike  removed  from  sentimentality  and 
extravagance.  These  qualities,  combined  with  ease  of  style,  have 
procured  for  the  author  an  immense  popularity  which  shows  no  signs 
of  diminution. 


TENNYSON  AND   HIS  CONTEMPORAEIES.      193 

Thomas  Adolphus  Trollope,  1810  — — ,  a  brother  of  the  novel- 
ist Anthony  Trollope,  is  himself  a  novelist  of  repute  and  also  an  his- 
torian. He  has  been  a  permanent  resident  of  Florence  for  the  last 
twenty  years  and  more.  Many  of  his  novels  are  illustrative  of  Italian 
life  and  history.  His  great  work,  however,  is  his  History  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Florence  to  the  Fall  of  the  Republic  (1531),  published 
in  1865.  Of  this  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
contributions  to  special  history  that  our  literature  possesses.  The 
theme  itself  is  fascinating,  and  the  historian  has  spared  no  trou- 
ble or  time  in  investigating  original  works  and  documents.  The  work 
reads  more  like  a  romance  than  a  sober  historical  narrative. 

Charles  Reade. 

Charles  Reade,  D.  C.  L.,  1814  ,  is  one  of  the  great  English 

novelists  of  the  present  day.  His  first  novel.  Peg  Woffington,  ap- 
peared in  1852,  and  established  his  fame.  It  is  unsurpassed,  in  true 
artistic  merit,  by  any  of  its  more  ambitious  successors.  Tlie  most  im- 
portant of  these  are  Christie  Johnstone,  Never  too  Late  to  Mend, 
White  Lies,  Love  Me  Little  Love  Me  Long,  The  Cloister  and  the 
Heartli,  Hard  Cash,  Griffith  Gaunt,  and  Put  Yourself  in  His  Place. 

Several  of  Reade' s  works,  especially  Never  too  Late  to  Mend,  and 
Put  Yourself  in  His  Place,  belong  to  the  class  of  novels  known  as 
tendency-pieces,  that  is,  works  of  imagination  intended  to  effect  some 
ulterior  object.  In  such  cases  the  ulterior  object  is  some  social  reform, 
which  the  writer  hopes  to  bring  about  by  showing,  by  means  of  con- 
crete, living  example,  the  pressing  want  of  improvement.  Thus,  Never 
too  Late  to  Mend  was  a  vigorous  protest  against  the  then  existing 
prison-system  of  England,  and  Put  Yourself  in  His  Place  was  intended 
to  show  the  evils  of  Trades-Unions. 

Mayne  Reid. 

Captain  Mayne  Reid,  1818 ,  is  the  author  of  a  large  number 

of  works  descriptive  of  adventure,  half  fact,  half  fiction,  which  are 
chiefly  captivating  as  boys'  books.  The  list  of  his  publications  is  very 
long.  There  are  forty  odd  works,  all  written  in  the  same  general 
style.  The  best  of  them  are,  perhaps.  Rifle  Rangers,  Boy  Hunters, 
English  Family  Robinson,  Forest  Exiles.  They  have  been  highly 
commended  for  the  freshness  and  accuracy  of  their  descriptions,  and 
their  general  healthy  tone. 

17  N 


194  ENGLISH    LITEEATURE. 

Charles  Kingsley. 

Kev.  Charles  Kingsley,  1819 ,  has  gained  distinction  in  several 

walks  of  literature,  but  is  chiefly  known  as  a  novelist.  His  first  work 
of  prominence  was  Alton  Locke,  a  novel  depicting  the  times  of  the 
Chartist  troubles  in  England.  His  other  principal  works  have  been 
Yeast;  Hypatia,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  Alexandria  during  the 
times  of  the  early  Christian  Church ;  Westward  Ho !  or  Sir  Amyas 
Leigh ;  Hereward,  the  Last  of  the  Saxons. 

Thomas  Hughes,  M.  P.,  1823 ,  better  known  in  America,  as 

in  England,  by  his  pseudonym  of  Tom  ^rown,  is  the  author  of  several 
popular  works.  Those  by  which  chiefly  he  acquired  celebrity  are : 
Tom  Brown's  School-Days,  describing  life  at  Rugby  under  the  admin- 
istration of  Arnold,  and  Tom  Brown  at  Oxford,  describing  life  at  the 
University.  Tom  Brown  at  Rugby,  which  was  to  a  very  considerable 
degree  autobiographical,  took  immediate  hold  upon  the  public  heart. 
Its  success  was  a  triumph  of  character  quite  as  much  as  of  ability. 
The  style  had  the  literary  charms,  indeed,  of  directness,  strength,  and 
simplicity;  but  its  supreme  charm  lay  in  its  transparent  veracity. 
Tom  Brown  at  Oxford,  which  followed,  was  of  the  same  general  char- 
acter, though  less  fresh  and  forcible. 

Lever. 

Charles  J.  Lever,  M.  D.,  1809-1872,  was  one  of  the  best  and  most 
popular  novelists  of  the  century.  His  principal  works  are  Harry 
Lorrequer,  Charles  O'Malley,  Jack  Hinton,  Tom  Burke,  Maurice 
Tiernay,  and  Kate  O'Donoghue. 

As  a  delineator  of  the  droll  side  of  Irish  life  and  character,  and  of 
army  life  in  general.  Lever  is  unequalled.  The  plot  of  his  novels  is 
usually  weak,  and  the  professed  heroines  are  tame  and  conventional. 
But  the  other  characters  are  all  highly  marked,  and  reveal  a  wealth 
of  humor  and  fim  that  borders  on  the  incredible.  They  are  all  excel- 
lent, and  some  of  them,  like  Mickey  Free  and  Major  Monsoon,  may 
be  safely  classed  among  the  greatest  literary  creations.  Of  all  care-dis- 
pelling, mirth-provoking  books,  Charles  O'Malley  is  the  most  genial.  It 
is  one  carnival  of  wit,  humor,  and  revelry  from  end  to  end,  with  just 
enough  of  the  shady  side  of  life  to  temper  the  merriment,  and  prevent 
it  from  becoming  monotonous. 


TENNYSON  AND   HIS  CONTEMPOR AEIES.      195 

Lover. 
Samuel  Lover,  1797-1868,  a  native  of  Dublin,  was  the  author  of  a 
number  of  sketches,  songs,  and  novels  of  Irish  life.  His  best  known 
novels  are  Eory  O' Moore,  Handy  Andy,  and  Treasure  Trove.  The 
Angels'  Whisper,  Kory  O'Moore,  and  Molly  Bawn  are  the  most  ad- 
mired of  his  songs.  The  broad,  blundering  fun  of  Handy  Andy  has 
been  welcomed  everywhere.  But  Mr.  Lover  cannot  compare  with  his 
great  rival,  Charles  Lever.  The  latter  has  infinitely  more  play  and 
delicacy  of  feeling,  and  a  wider  range  of  character,  as  well  as  keener 
insight.     Mr.  Lover's  books  are  simply  funny. 

Warren. 

Samuel  Warren,  LL.  D.,  1807 ,  is  prominent  both  as  a  novelist, 

and  as  a  writer  on  law.  He  is  one  of  the  few  who  have  succeeded  in 
reconciling  the  lighter  muse  with  the  proverbially  "jealous  mistress." 
His  earliest  work.  Passages  from  the  Diary  of  a  Late  Physician,  a  col- 
lection of  sketches,  first  appeared  in  Blackwood's  Magazine,  and  at- 
tracted general  attention.  So  intense  was  the  air  of  reality  about  these 
sketches  that  one  of  Mr.  Warretfs  tritics  found  fault  with  them  as  a 
betrayal  of  professional  confidence.  His  next  —  and  also  his  best 
work  —  was  Ten  Thousand  a  Yej^r,  which  likewise  appeared  in 
Blackwood  as  a  serial.  This  novel  has  its  faults,  and  grave  ones ;  it  is 
too  long,  and,  being  written  in  the  intterests  of  the  Conservative  party, 
betrays  too  palpably  its  tendency.  BM  with  all  its  defects,  it  is  a  de- 
lightfully fascinating  book,  and  some  \)f  its  characters  have  already 
passed  into  the  permanent  gallery  of  great  English  creations.  Tittle- 
bat Titmouse  and  Oily  Gammon  stand  on  an  equal  footing  with  Oliver 
Twist  and  Uriah  Heep. 


G>f<R. 


James. 


George  Payne  Kainsford  James,  1800-1860,  was  the  most  volumi- 
nous novelist  of  his  day.  In  1822  appeared  his  first  work,  Edward 
the  Black  Prince ;  in  1829,  Eichelieu,  which  had  first  received  in  man- 
uscript the  approving  verdict  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  From  this  time  on, 
Mr.  James  was  the  producer  of  an  almost  interminable  series  of  his- 
torical novels,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  volumes. 
He  is  a  pleasing  writer,  and  very  popular;  but  his  works  have  a  mo- 
notony of  plot,  character,  and  description,  that  render  them  tiresome 
to  the  critical  reader.  Any  one  of  them  is  almost  the  precise  coun- 
terpart of  all  the  others.  Mr.  James  cannot  be  said  to  have  added 
any  new  creation  to  the  world  of  imagination. 


196  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Wilkie  Collins. 

William  Wilkie  Collins,  1824 ,  is  a  distinguished  novelist,  and 

the  son  of  William  Collins  the  landscape  painter.  His  best  known 
works  are  The  Dead  Secret ;  Armadale ;  The  Moonstone  ;  No  Name ; 
Queen  of  Hearts ;  Woman  in  White ;  Man  and  Wife,  etc. 

"  George  Eliot." 

Mrs.  Marian  C.  (Evans)  Lewes,  1820  ,  best  known  by  her  as- 
sumed name  of  George  Eliot,  belongs  to  the  first  class  of  English 
novelists.  Scarcely  any  works  of  fiction  of  the  present  day  show 
greater  originality,  or  power,  or  higher  artistic  finish.  She  is  the  wife 
of  the  author,  G.  H.  Lewes ;  she  achieved,  however,  her  great  dis- 
tinction as  a  writer  before  her  marriage.  Her  principal  works  arc : 
Adam  Bede ;  The  Mill  on  the  Floss;  Romola ;  Felix  Holt  the  Radical ; 
Scenes  of  Clerical  Life ;  Silas  Marner ;  The  Spanish  Gipsy,  a  Poem. 

Mrs.  Gaskell. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  C.  (Stevenson)  Gaskell,  1822-1866,  was  a  resident 
of  Manchester,  the  wife  of  a  Unitarian  minister.  She  was  one  of  the 
best  of  the  lady  novelists  of  the  present  generation ;  and  in  her  sub- 
jects, and  the  vigor  of  her  delineations,  came  nearer  than  any  other 
of  them  to  her  friend  Charlotte  Bronte.  Her  best  works  are :  Mary 
Barton,  a  Tale  of  Manchester  Life ;  Ruth,  a  Novel ;  and  a  Life  of 
Charlotte  Bronte. 

Miss  Muloek. 

Miss  Dinah  Maria  Muloek,  1826  ,  is  the  author  of  several 

novels  which  have  enjoyed  a  great  and  deserved  popularity.  The 
best  of  her  works  are:  John  Halifax,  Gentleman;  The  Ogilvies; 
Agatha's  Husband ;  and  A  Brave  Lady.  Miss  Mulock's  forte  lies  in 
the  development  of  her  characters,  showing  how  the  same  general 
events  tend  to  invigorate  a  healthy  mind  and  to  crush  the  weak  and 
self-indulgent. 

Miss  Yonge. 

Miss  Charlotte  Mary  Yonge,  1823 ,  has  attained  some  celebrity 

as  a  novelist.  Her  novels  are  of  the  religious  cast,  inculcating  High 
Church  principles.  Her  leading  characters  are  clearly  individualized, 
and  she  has  considerable  dramatic  power.  Her  chief  defect  as  an 
artist  is  want  of  condensation.  Her  stories  lose  power  by  being  too 
mucli  spun  out.     She  began  publishing  in  1848,  and  has  kept  up  a 


TENNYSON   AND   HIS   CONTE  MPOR  ABIES  .       197 

pretty  regular  stream  of  books  ever  since.  The  number  of  her  publi- 
cations is  over  fifty.  The  two  best  known  are  the  Heir  of  Redclyfie, 
and  Daisy  Chain. 

III.  ^A/■RITERS  ON  LITERATURE  AND  POLITICS. 

f 

Carlyle. 

Thomas  Carlyle,  1795  ,  is  pre-eminent  among  the  writers  of 

his  generation  for  the  independence  and  vigor  of  his  thoughts,  and 
for  the  air  of  supreme  authority  with  which  his  opinions  are  uttered. 

Mr.  Carlyle  is  a  native  of  Scotland.  He  was  educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  and  for  some  years  engaged  in  teaching,  but 
about  the  age  of  twenty-nine  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  literature  and 
authorship. 

Mr.  Carlyle's  first  publications  were  contributions  to  Brewster's 
Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia.  His  next  work  was  a  translation  of 
Goethe's  Wilhelm  Meister,  which  was  followed  by  a  Life  of  Schiller. 
The  preparation  of  these  two  works  seems  to  have  given  to  his 
thoughts  and  studies  that  strong  bent  towards  German  ideas  and 
modes  of  expression  which  have  formed  such  a  prominent  feature  in 
his  writings  ever  since.  \  M 

This  feature  was  especially  raarkeOTpfhis  next  work,  Sartor  Eesar- 
tus,  professedly  a  translation  from  a  ^e^man  treatise  on  the  philoso- 
phy of  clothes.  In  this  curious  miscellany,  under  a  quaint  form,  and 
in  a  diction  and  phraseology  strangely  oiitlandish,  the  author  venti- 
lates his  opinions  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  and  with  a  freshness, 
vigor,  and  acuteness  of  thought,  that  show  on  every  page  the  master- 
hand.  Sartor  Resartus  gave  Carlyle  his  first  strong  hold  upon  the 
piiblic  mind ;  and  he  has  been  recognized  ever  since  as  a  leading  force 
in  the  world  of  opinion. 

His  subsequent  works  have  been  Chartism;  Hero-Worship;  Past 
and  Present;  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromwell;  Life  of  John 
Sterling ;  Latter-Day  Pamphlets ;  The  French  Revolution ;  and  Life 
of  Frederick  the  Great.  He  has  published  also  five  volumes  of  Mis- 
cellanies. 

Mr.  Carlyle  has  a  great  contempt  for  weakness,  either  in  individ- 
uals or  in  races,  and  a  corresponding  admiration  for  strength,  and  is 
not  far  from  saying,  in  so  many  words,  that  might  makes  right.  In- 
deed, his  special  delight  is  in  saying  and  boldly  avowing  whatever  ia 
glaringly  paradoxical.  His  chief  heroes,  above  all  other  men,  are 
Mohammed,  Cromwell,  Napoleon,  and  Frederick  the  Great.  He  is 
17* 


198  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

provokingly  arrogant  and  dogmatic,  and  yet  he  charms  and  fasci- 
nates. He  calls  us  all  fools,  blockheads,  knaves,  scoundrels,  and  yet 
he  does  it  with  such  an  imperial  air,  that  we  all  like  to  hear  him ;  we 
listen  to  his  voice  as  though  it  were  verily  that  of  Jupiter  Tonans 
speaking  audibly  from  Mount  Olympus. 

Ruskin. 

John  Kuskin,  1819 ,  is  the  father  of  the  modern  English  school 

of  art-criticism,  and  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  English  prose.  His 
earliest  work  was  Modern  Painters,  intended  to  show  their  superior- 
ity over  the  ancients  in  landscape  painting.  This  was  followed  by 
the  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,  i.  e.,  the  seven  moral  or  psychical 
principles  of  architecture.  In  1851  appeared  what  will  probably  be 
regarded  as  his  ^eatest  work,  The  Stones  of  Venice,  accompanied  by 
illustrations  of  Venetian  architecture.  Euskin  devoted  to  this  work 
years  of  patient  toil  and  study,  copying  on  the  spot  all  the  chief 
architectural  features  of  the  city.  Ruskin's  powers  of  description, 
although  often  over-exerted,  are  very  great,  and  his  style  has  the 
merit  of  suggestiveness.  No  one  with  a  cultivated  mind  can  read  at 
random  in  Ruskin's  writings  without  seizing  and  carrying  off  some 
idea  capable  of  development  by  the  reader  himself.  This  it  is,  after 
all,  which  constitutes  the  lasting  merit  of  Ruskin's  works. 

Max  Muller. 

Frederick  Max  Miiller,  1823 ,  has  done  a  signal  public  service, 

and  has  connected  himself  indissolubly  with  English  letters,  by  his 
successive  works  on  the  Science  of  Language.  He  is  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, but  has  passed  by  far  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  England, 
and  has  written  nearly  all  his  works  in  English.  His  works  may  be 
grouped  into  two  classes:  those  on  comparative  philology  and  mythol- 
ogy, and  those  on  Sanscrit  proper.  The  latter  are  embodied  in  the 
edition  of  the  Rig- Veda,  made  by  Miiller  for  the  East  India  Com- 
pany ;  his  translation  of  the  Rig-Veda,  of  which  the  first  volume  has 
appeared;  his  Sanscrit  Grammar;  his  History  of  Ancient  Sanscrit 
Literature ;  and  a  number  of  scattered  essays  and  contributions.  As  a 
writer  on  comparative  philology  and  mythology,  he  is  best  known  by 
his  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language,  in  two  volumes,  and  by  a 
number  of  articles  that,  for  a  long  while,  were  scattered  through  re- 
views and  scientific  journals,  but  are  now  collected  into  a  series  of 
volumes  entitled  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop.     He  occupies  the 


TENNYSON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.       199 

chair  of  Modern  Languages  at  Oxford,  and  is  the  most  eminent  San- 
scrit scholar  that  England  has  possessed  since  the  death  of  Wilson. 

Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis. 

Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis,  1806  ,  is  among  the  ablest  and 

most  original  critics  of  the  day,  especially  on  historical  subjects.  His 
chief  work  is  an  Inquiry  into  the  Credibility  of  Early  Roman  His- 
tory, r  Sir  George  is  a  vigorous  writer  and  able  scholar,  belonging  to 
the  so-called  destructive  school  of  criticism.  He  rejects  the  entire 
early  history  of  Rome,  even  Niebuhr's  theory  of  it,  as  utterly  without 
historic  evidence. 

Prof.  Latham. 

Robert  Gordon  Latham,  F.  R.  S.,  1812 ,  Professor  of  English 

Literature  in  University  College,  London,  holds  a  high  rank  among 
English  philologists. 

His  best  known  writings  are :  A  Treatise  on  the  English  Language ; 
Man  and  his  Migrations ;  and  Etlmology  of  Europe. 

Craik. 

George  L.  Craik,  1709-1866,  Professor  of  English  Literature  and 
History,  in  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  is  the  author  of  a  valuable  work, 
on  the  History  of  English  Literature  and  Language.  It  has  been 
republished  in  the  United  States  in  two  large  vols.,  8vo,  and  is  one  of 
the  very  best  works  on  the  subject  yet  printed. 

John  Stuart  Mill. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  1806  ,  has  been  a  contributor  to  the  leading 

reviews,  and  was,  for  several  years,  co-editor  of  the  Westminster,  He 
has  also  taken  a  prominent  part  in  politics,  and  been  honored  with  an 
election  to  Parliament.  He  belongs  to  the  radical,  progressive  party 
in  England. 

Besides  his  scattered  pieces  he  has  published  the  following  works : 
A  System  of  Logic,  2  vols. ;  Principles  of  Political  Economy,  2  vols. ; 
An  Essay  On  Liberty ;  and,  very  recently.  An  Essay  On  the  Subjec- 
tion of  Woman. 

As  a  writer  on  philosophical  or  abstract  subjects,  no  one  has  ever 
surpassed  Mr.  Mill  for  clearness  and  cogency  of  statement.  As  a 
scholar,  his  reputation  is  great  and  well  founded.  As  a  thinker,  he 
is  clear-headed  and  earnest.  Whether  or  not  his  views  are  sound,  still 
j:emains  to  be  proven.     Many,  even  of  the  same  party,  fear  that  they 


200  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

are  too  ultra,  too  theoretical  to  be  applied  with  safety  to  practical  sub- 
jects. In  political  economy,  Mr.  Mill  is  a  champion  of  free-trade, 
and  a  fearless  opponent  of  the  present  absorption  of  land  in  England 
by  a  few  enormously  wealthy  owners. 

Gladstone. 

Et.  Hon.  William  E.  Gladstone,  1809  ,  great  equally  as  a 

statesman,  an  author,  and  an  orator,  has  risen  by  slow  but  sure  de- 
grees, through  the  various  stages  of  advancement,  until  in  1868  he 
became  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  Crown.  Like  several  of  the  other 
great  statesmen  of  Great  Britain  of  the  present  day,  Mr.  Gladstone,  in 
the  midst  of  his  intense  parliamentary  labors,  has  found  time  to  em- 
ploy his  pen  on  subjects  of  general  concern.  His  works,  though  not 
numerous,  are  in  the  highest  degree  scholarly  and  able,  and  sufficient 
of  themselves  to  give  him  rank  among  the  great  writers  of  tlie  age. 
The  following  are  the  chief:  The  State  in  its  Kelation  to  the  Church  ; 
Juventus  Mundi,  the  Gods  and  Men  of  the  Heroic  Age  ;  Studies  on 
Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age. 

The  Earl  of  Derby. 

Edward  Geoffrey  Smith  Stanley,  Earl  of  Derby,  1799-1869,  a  dis- 
tinguished English  statesman,  and  leader  of  the  Tory  party,  gained 
great  distinction  also  in  the  field  of  authorship.  Besides  some  minor 
works,  he  published  the  Iliad  of  Homer,  in  English  Blank  Verse. 
Derby's  Homer  is  considered  far  superior  to  Pope's,  and  certainly  is 
one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  ever  published.  Such  a  literary 
achievement  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  was  executed  amid  the 
cares  and  excitements  of  political  life. 

Douglas  Jerrold. 

Douglas  Jerrold,  1803-1857,  was  one  of  the  famous  wits  of  this  cen- 
tury. His  contributions  to  the  London  Punch  alone  would  serve  to 
make  him  famous.  No  less  popular  are  his  comedies.  The  best 
known  among  them  are  Black-eyed  Susan  and  Nell  Gwynne.  Mrs. 
Caudle's  Curtain  Lectures  and  Punch's  Complete  Letter  Writer  hav6 
become  proverbial. 

Mrs.  Jameson. 

Mrs.  Anna  Jameson,  1797-1860,  has  a  high  reputation  as  a  writer 
on  art  and  literature.     Her  principal  works  are:  Characteristics  of 


TENNYSON   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.      201 

Women,  Memoirs  of  Celebrated  Female  Sovereigns,  Lives  of  the 
Early  Italian  Painters,  The  Poetry  of  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art. 
Mrs.  Jameson's  works  exhibit  rare  powers  of  insight  combined  with 
grace  of  expression  and  purity  of  sentiment.  Probably  no  other 
English  female  writer  of  her  day  has  been  more  read  and  quoted.  In 
her  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art  she  has  evinced  her  capacity  for  anti- 
quarian research,  while  her  Characteristics  of  Women  is  "A  most 
eloquent  and  passionate  representation  of  Shakespeare's  Women,  and 
in  many  respects  is  an  important  contribution  to  critical  literature." 
Whipple. 

IV.     ^A/'RITERS   ON   PHILOSOPHY  AND   SCIENCE. 

Sir  William  Hamilton. 

Sir  William  Hamilton,  1788-1856,  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
the  acknowledged  leader  of  English  metaphysicians.  He  was  Profes- 
sor of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Ham- 
ilton is  universally  allowed  to  have  been  a  man  of  uncommon  erudition, 
and  of  equal  clearness  in  thought  and  expression.  His  Lectures  on 
Logic  and  Metaphysics  are  accepted  text-books  in  many  American 
colleges.  His  original  productions  appeared  chiefly  in  the  shape 
of  essays  in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  Besides  these,  he  edited,  with 
elaborate  notes  and  dissertations,  the  works  of  Thomas  Reid,  and  was 
engaged,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  the  preparation  of  a  similar  edi- 
tion of  the  works  of  Dugald  Stewart. 

f  Buckle. 

Henry  Thomas  Buckle,  1822-1862,  acquired  great  celebrity  by  his 
work  on  the  History  of  Civilization.  This  work,  so  daring  in  thought, 
and  so  beautiful  in  expression,  created  at  once  a  profound  impression 
wherever  the  English  language  was  spoken.  It  was  unmistakably  infi- 
del in  its  assumptions ;  and  it  supported  them  with  such  a  fulness  and 
beauty  of  illustration  as  to  create  for  a  time  a  feeling  of  alarm  in  the 
minds  of  many.  The  public  were  taken  with  surprise  by  the  wealth  of 
learning  at  his  command,  and  at  the  same  time  fascinated  by  the  quiet 
ease  and  elegance  with  which  these  stores  of  wealth  were  spread  out 
before  them.  Such  was  the  feeling  on  the  appearance  of  the  first  vol- 
ume, in  1857.  A  second  and  larger  volume  came  out  in  1861,  but  did 
not  create  the  excitement  produced  by  the  first.  People  had  had  time 
to  recover  from  the  spell  thrown  over  them,  and  had  found  that  his 
logic  was  by  no  means  equal  to  his  rhetoric.     They  could  still  admire 


202  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

his  style,  which  for  philosophical  writing  has  indeed  never  been  ex- 
celled ;  and  yet  could  see  that  his  reasoning  was  unmistakably  weak. 
His  health  failing,  Mr.  Buckl^  travelled  to  the  East  in  the  hope  of 
recovery,  but  died  at  Damascus,  in  the  spring  of  1862.  His  work,  if 
carried  out  to  completion  on  the  plan  proposed,  would  have  been  one 
of  colossal  proportions.  As  it  is,  it  is  a  splendid  fragment,  which 
must  ever  command  respect,  even  from  those  who  dissent  from  the 
conclusions  of  the  author. 

Herbert  Spencer. 

Herbert  Spencer,  1820  ,  is  one  of  the  most  voluminous  writers 

of  the  day  on  philosophical  subjects.  He  belongs  tothe  same  infidel 
school  as  Buckle,  Lecky,  and  Darwin.  He  has  been  a  contributor  to 
the  great  English  quarterlies,  chiefly  to  the  Westminster  Review,  and 
to  some  scientific  journals.  Mr.  Spencer  may  be  described  in  general 
terms  as  a  Darwinist,  seeking  to  ascertain  by  deduction  the  physical 
and  psychical  laws  underlying  social  life,  and  to  make  them,  instead 
of  abstract  speculation,  the  basis  of  philosophy.  According  to  Mr. 
Spencer's  views  there  is  no  such  thing  as  metaphysics  in  the  ordinary 
use  of  that  term,  no  a  priori  construction  of  the  world  of  thought  out 
of  the  philosopher's  own  consciousness,  but  only  a  science  of  human 
life  based  upon  broad  and  carefully  prepared  data,  and  treated  like 
other  inductive  sciences. 

Mr.  Spencer's  principal  works  are:  Social  Statics,  The  Principles 
of  Psychology,  Education,  First  Principles,  Principles  of  Biology, 
Classification  of  the  Sciences,  and  Universal  Progress. 

Lecky. 

Mr.  W.  E.  H.  Lecky, ,  is  a  philosophical  writer  of  consid- 
erable prominence.  His  two  works  are  a  History  of  Rationalism  in 
Europe,  and  a  History  of  European  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charle- 
magne. 

The  Duke  of  Argyle. 

George  John  Douglass  Campbell,  Duke  of  Argyle,  1823  ,  is  an 

eminent  British  statesman,  orator,  and  author.  The  Duke  is  an  ear- 
nest advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  proceedings  which  led  to  the  disruption.  He 
published  Presbytery  Examined,  giving  a  review  of  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Scotland  since  the  Reformation.  In  the  House  of  Lords  he 
acts  with  the  Liberal  party,  and  he  is  an  earnest  promoter  of  science 


TENNYSON  AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.      203 

and  of  popular  education.  His  latest  work  is  a  philosophical  treatise 
on  The  Keign  of  Law,  which  has  been  very  favorably  received. 

Sir  David  Brewster. 

Sir  David  Brewster,  LL.  D.,  1781-1868,  a  native  of  Scotland  and  a 
resident  of  Edinburgh,  was  one  of  the  greatest  experimental  philoso- 
phers of  the  present  century.  He  edited  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia, 
1808-1829,  and  wrote  many  of  its  articles.  He  contributed  also  to  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britaimica,  and  to  the  North  British  Eeview.  His 
papers  in  the  Transactions  of  various  learned  societies  are  very  nu- 
merous. Of  his  separate  works,  of  a  more  popular  character,  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  chief :  Letters  on  Natural  Magic;  More  Worlds  than 
One,  the  Creed  of  the  Philosopher  and  the  Hope  of  the  Christian ; 
Lives  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Galileo,  Tycho  Brahe,  and  Kepler. 

Whe^A/"ell. 

William  Whewell,  D.D.,  1795-1866,  distinguished  himself  as  a 
writer  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  though  he  was  mainly  known  by 
his  writings  on  the  natural  sciences.  The  most  widely  known  of  his 
works  are :  Astronomy  and  General  Physics  considered  in  Reference 
to  Natural  Philosophy  ;  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences ;  Philoso- 
phy of  the  Inductive  Sciences ;  Elements  of  Morality ;  Plurality  of 
Worlds ;  History  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  England. 

Whewell  was  one  of  the  few  men  who  are  equally  at  home  in  the 
exact  and  the  historical  sciences,  and  able  to  do  both  classes  justice 
without  allowing  the  one  to  override  the  other.  Hence  the  great 
value  and  the  success  of  his  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences.  Not- 
withstanding its  errors  and  its  occasionally  illiberal  spirit,  it  is,  together 
with  the  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  a  wonderful  effort  to 
co-ordinate  the  scattered  and  even  hostile  departments  of  human 
knowledge. 

Charles  Darwin. 

Charles  Darwin,  F.  R.  S.,  1809  ,  the  grandson  of  the  poet  and 

naturalist  Erasmus  Darwin,  is  himself  one  of  the  most  eminent  natu- 
ralists of  the  day.  Mr.  Darwin  has  a  singular  facility  in  expressing 
his  ideas  in  language  easily  understood  and  in  disposing  his  matter 
for  artistic  effect.  His  chief  works  are :  The  Variation  of  Animals 
and  Plants  under  Domestication  ;  The  Origin  of  Species  by  Means  of 
Natural  Selection ;  The  Descent  of  Man.  His  scientific  opinions,  as 
contained  in  the  works  last  named,  have  met  with  emphatic  dissent. 


204  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

But  all  critics,  both  friends  and  foes,  liave  admired  the  clearness  and 
beauty  of  his  style,  and  the  wonderful  variety  and  extent  of  his 
knowledge. 

Owen. 

Kichard  Owen,  D.  C.  L.,  1804  ,  is  the  most  eminent  compara- 
tive anatomist  of  his  age.  His  written  contributions  to  science  are 
immense.  Those  of  his  works  which  are  of  most  general  interest 
are :  Hif tory  of  British  Fossil  Mammals  and  Birds ;  On  the  Arche- 
type and  Homologies  of  the  Vertebrate  Skeleton ;  The  Anatomy  of 
the  Vertebrates.  Professor  Owen  is  an  opponent  of  Darwinism,  defend- 
ing the  mutability  of  species  by  virtue  of  inherent  tendencies,  and  not 
by  change  of  external  circumstances.  His  works,  even  to  the  lay 
reader,  are  fascinating  through  their  vigor  and  clearness  of  style. 

Lyell. 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  1797  ,  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  geologists 

of  the  century.  His  chief  works  are :  Principles  of  Geology ;  Travels 
in  North  America ;  The  Antiquity  of  Man.  Lyell  is,  in  tlie  strictest 
sense  of  the  term,  a  scientific  inquirer ;  his  method  and  his  aim  are 
purely  scientific.  At  the  same  time,  by  reason  of  his  pleasing  style  and 
clear  statement,  he  has  been  the  chief  agent  in  impressing  the  claims 
of  the  science  upon  the  attention  of  the  reading  public.  His  carliost 
work  and  his  latest  —  The  Principles  of  Geology  and  The  Antiquity 
of  Man  —  mark,  each  of  them,  a  new  era  in  science.  Lyell's  two 
volumes  of  Travels  are  chiefly  taken  up  with  scientific  details,  but  are 
also  rich  in  shrewd  and  just  observations  upon  the  society  and  institu- 
tions of  the  country  whose  geological  features  he  is  exploring. 

Tyndall. 

John  Tyndall,  1820  ,  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  best 

known  scientists  of  the  present  day.  He  is  the  autlior  of  two  interest- 
ing works  on  Switzerland,  entitled  The  Glaciers  of  the  Alps,  and 
Mountaineering  in  1861,  in  which  brilliant  description  of  hazardous* 
ascensions  is  skilfully  blended  with  scientific  information.  His  best 
known  works,  however,  are  on  Heat  as  a  Mode  of  Motion,  and  on 
Sound.  Tyndall  belongs  to  that  growing  class  of  investigators  who 
unite  the  greatest  originality  and  accuracy  of  research  with  the  happi- 
est style  of  composition.  His  monograph  on  Heat  may  be  set  down 
as  marking  a  new  epoch  in  that  department.  Professor  Tyndall 
visited  the  United  States  in  1872  on  a  lecturing  tour. 


TBN^K-YSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.    205 
V.  HISTORY,  BIOGRAPHY,  ANTIQUITIES,  ETC. 

Maeaulay. 

Thomas  Babington  Maeaulay,  1800-1859,  was  in  his  day  the  most 
brilliant  living  writer  in  England,  in  matters  of  historical  criticism. 
He  excelled,  indeed,  in  almost  every  style  of  writing,  but  it  was  on 
questions  of  history,  and  especially  on  those  involving  political  issues, 
that  his  supremacy  was  complete. 

He  was  educated  at  tlie  University  of  Cambridge,  and  greatly  dis- 
tinguished himself  while  there  by  the  thoroughness  of  his  scholarship. 
He  twice  carried  oflf  the  prize,  the  Chancellor's  Medal,  for  English 
verse.  University  honors  fell  thick  about  his  path,  but  he  left  them 
behind  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  While  still  a 
law-student,  he  published  two  of  his  most  remarkable  productions,  the 
Battle  of  Ivry,  at  the  age  of  twenty- four,  and  the  Essay  on  Milton,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five.  Either  of  these  was  alone  sufficient  to  mark 
him  as  a  man  of  the  first  order  of  genius.  The  Essay  on  Milton  was 
followed  from  time  to  time  by  similar  brilliant  articles  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Eeview. 

In  1830,  he  entered  Parliament,  and  there  by  his  eloquence  in  de- 
bate, rivalled  the  fame  which  he  had  already  acquired  as  a  poet  and 
an  essayist.  His  principal  speeches  were  upon  the  Eeform  Bill,  1830-32, 
and  upon  the  affairs  of  the  East  India  Company,  1833.  On  the  latter  sub- 
ject, especially,  he  displayed  so  much  knowledge  and  ability  that  he  was 
made  a  minister  of  the  Supreme  Council  for  India,  and  put  at  the  head  o'f 
the  Commission  to  prepare  a  new  code  of  laws  for  the  Indian  empire. 
He  sojourned  in  India  for  this  purpose  from  1835  to  1838,  and  while 
there  acquired  that  intimate  knowledge  of  the  country  which  appears 
with  such  wonderful  effect  in  his  articles  on  Clive  and  Warren  Hastings. 

On  returning  to  England,  he  re-entered  Parliament  in  1838,  and  was 
made  Secretary  at  War  in  the  Melbourne  ministry.  During  this  period 
of  political  activity,  he  produced  the  Lays  of  Ancient  Home. 

Being  defeated  in  an  election  for  Parliament,  in  1847,  he  determined 
henceforth  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  literature,  and  he  began  the 
composition  of  the  great  historical  work,  for  which  all  his  previous  life 
and  writings  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  special  preparation.  This  was  in- 
tended to  be  a  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  James  II.  down 
to  a  Time  within  the  Memory  of  Persons  Still  Living.  The  first  two 
volumes  appeared  at  the  close  of  1848.  Volumes  three  and  four  appeared 
seven  years  later,  in  1855 ;  and  a  fragment  of  another  volume  was  pub- 
lished after  his  death,  the  whole  coming  down  only  to  the  death  of  Wil- 
liam III.,  1702. 
18 


206  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Macaulay  was  great  in  everything  which  he  undertook.  He  was 
among  the  first  in  the  list  of  great  parliamentary  orators,  though  after 
the  order  of  Burke  rather  than  that  of  Fox;  he  is  equally  among  the 
first  in  the  roll  of  great  poets ;  while,  as  an  essayist,  and  a  painter  of 
historical  scenes  and  personages,  he  is  without  a  peer. 

The  sale  of  his  works,  particularly  of  his  History,  has  been  enor- 
mous. His  Essays,  as  they  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Review,  were  received  with  the  same  sort  of  excitement  which, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  i^ed  to  await  the  appearance  of  a  new 
fiction  by  Scott,  or  a  new  poem  by  Byron.  His  History  of  England 
rivalled  the  most  sensational  novel  in  the  eagerness  with  which  it  was 
purchased  and  read.  More  than  sixty  thousand  copies  of  the  Essays, 
in  5  vols.,  were  published  in  Philadelphia  alone,  within  the  first  five 
years.  The  aggregate  sale  of  the  third  and  fourth  volumes  of  his 
History,  within  the  first  four  weeks  of  their  publication,  was  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  copies. 

Grote. 

George  Grote,  1794-1871,  the  historian  of  Greece,  was  the  finest 
specimen  in  modern  times  of  a  man  of  business  who  was  at  the  same 
time  in  the  foremost  rank  as  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  letters. 

Something  in  Mr.  Grote's  success  in  the  latter,  doubtlCvSs,  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  carried  his  business  habits  and  solid  business  sense  into 
the  investigation  of  subjects  usually  monopolized  by  mere  scholars, 
who  have  no  practical  experience  of  afiairs. 

He  was  educated  at  the  Charter-House  School,  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen entered  as  a  clerk  in  the  banking-house  established  by  his  grand- 
father, and  in  which  he  himself  afterwards  became  a  partner.  He 
spent  his  leisure  hours,  as  a  clerk,  in  patient  study,  and  having  early 
formed  the  purpose  of  writing  the  work  which  has  made  him  famous, 
set  about  the  preparation  for  it  with  a  degree  of  courage  and  delibera- 
tion that  border  upon  the  marvellous.  Without  a  University  training, 
he  bent  himself  to  the  task  of  writing  the  most  difficult  of  all  histories, 
the  History  of  Greece.  Not  being  a  classical  scholar,  he  applied  him- 
self to  master  not  only  the  Greek  language,  but  whatever  related  to 
Greek  life,  history,  literature,  and  philosophy.  The  History  was  com- 
pleted in  1856,  and  filled  12  vols.,  8vo. 

Then  followed,  after  many  years,  his  important  work  on  Plato,  a 
masterpiece  of  research,  analysis,  and  scholarship.  Here  the  genius 
of  the  man  of  business  was,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  specu- 
lation, brought  to  bear  on  the  noblest  and  highest  of  transcendental 


TENNYSON   AND   HIS  CONTEMPOR AEIES.      207 

philosophers.  The  work  was  in  3  vols.,  and  was  entitled  Plato  and 
the  Other  Companions  of  Socrates. 

Froude. 

James  Anthony  Fronde,  1818 ,  has  placed  himself  in  the  rank 

of  distinguished  historians.  His  principal  work,  a  History  of  Eng- 
land from  the  Fall  of  Wolsey  to  the  Death  of  Elizabeth,  in  12  vols., 
8vo,  is  a  monument  at  once  of  historical  research  and  of  literary  cul- 
ture. Besides  this  great  work,  Mr.  Froude  has  published  the  Neme- 
sis of  Faith  ;  Short  Studies  on  Great  Studies ;  and  Calvinism,  an  Ad- 
dress delivered  at  St.  Andrew's  University.  Mr.  Froude  visited  the 
United  States  in  1872  on  a  lecturing  tour. 

Merivale. 
Kev.  Charles  Merivale,  1808  ,  Fellow  of  Cambridge,  has  pub- 
lished an  elaborate  History  of  the  Romans.  The  object  of  this  work, 
which  is  in  7  vols.,  8vo,  is  to  bridge  over  the  interval  between  the 
point  at  which  Arnold  was  interrupted,  and  that  at  which  Gibbon 
began.  Mr.  Merivale  has  told  this  part  of  the  Roman  story  in  a  way 
that  leaves  little  to  be  desired.  His  work  is  not  a  compilation,  but 
an  original  history,  the  fruit  of  careful  and  prolonged  investigation. 
If  it  does  not  possess  the  splendor  of  Gibbon,  or  the  vigorous  grasp  of 
Arnold,  it  is  yet  admirable  as  a  work  of  art,  and  worthy  to  hold  a 
place  between  these  two  great  masters,  and  to  form  with  them  the 
continuous  story  of  Roman  afiairs. 

Milman. 
Henry  Hart  Milman,  1791-1868  ;  distinguished  himself  in  various 
walks  of  authorship,  but  chiefly  as  an  historian.  His  most  important 
historical  works  are :  the  History  of  the  Jews ;  the  well-known  anno- 
tated edition  of  Gibbon's  Rome ;  the  History  of  Christianity  from  the 
Birth  of  Christ  to  the  Abolition  of  Paganism  in  the  Empire ;  and  the 
History  of  Latin  Christianity  down  to  the  Pontificate  of  Nicolas  V. 
The  History  of  Christianity  and  the  History  of  Latin  Christianity 
are  justly  regarded  as  standard  works.  They  evince  great  erudition 
and  logical  grasp  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  historian,  and  are  writ- 
ten in  a  spirit  of  Christian  liberality. 

Agnes  Strickland. 

Agnes  Strickland,  1806 ,  is  entitled  to  an  honored  place  in  the 

gallery  of  distinguished  historical  writers. 


208  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

Her  principal  works  are :  the  Queens  of  England,  the  Queens  of 
Scotland,  and  the  Lives  of  the  Bachelor  Kings  of  England.  In  most 
of  these  works  she  received  much  assistance  from  her  sister  Elizabeth, 
who  refused  however  to  have  her  name  put  on  the  title-page.  The 
materials  were  collected  by  means  of  careful  researches  in  the  British 
Museum  and  other  great  public  libraries.  Her  volumes  afford  an 
agreeable  reading  for  the  lover  of  history,  and  contain  many  minutiae 
of  royal  domestic  life  not  to  be  found  in  more  ambitious  and  more 
philosophical  works. 

Kinglake.  i 

Alexander  William  Kinglake,  1811-1870,  was  chiefly  known  by 
his  history  of  the  Invasion  of  the  Crimea.  Plis  first  work  was  Eothen, 
a  collection  of  sketches  of  Eastern  travel,  which  has  been  pronounced 
to  be  the  most  fascinating  work  of  the  kind  ever  written.  He  accom- 
panied the  Crimean  expedition,  and  commenced  a  detailed  account  of 
the  campaign  under  the  title.  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea,  of  which 
two  volumes  have  appeared.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Lord 
Raglan,  and  the  work  has  therefore  somewhat  of  a  partisan  character. 
But  the  vivid  and  detailed  description  which  it  gives  of  the  campaign, 
and  its  merciless  exposure  of  the  conduct  of  Louis  Napoleon,  in  con- 
nection with  its  clear  and  vigorous  style,  place  the  work  in  the  fore- 
most rank  of  contributions  to  special  history. 

Arthur  Helps,  1818  ,  is  favorably  known  both  as  an  histo- 
rian and  as  a  writer  of  miscellanies.  His  best  known  works  are 
Friends  in  Council,  a  History  of  the  Spanish  Conquest,  and  a  Life 
of  Columbus.  Helps  is  a  thoroughly  earnest  writer  and  a  diligent 
investigator,  but  his  style  lacks  something  of  the  dignity  and  finish  of 
the  classical  historian. 


VI.     THEOLOGICAL   AND   RELIGIOUS. 

John  Henry  'Newman.  ■ 

The  Very  Rev.  John  Henry  Newman,  D.  D.,  1801  ,  is  an  ac- 
knowledged leader  among  the  great  English  theologians  of  the  present 
day.  His  eminent  abilities  as  a  thinker  and  a  writer  are  recognized 
equally  by  those  who  dissent  from  his  opinions  and  those  who  agree 
with  him. 

He  was  associated  with  Keble  and  other  Oxford  scholars,  in  the 
movement  which  led  to  the  publication  of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times, 


TENNYSON  AND   HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.      209 

and  was  one  of  those  who  went  over  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  After 
his  conversion,  he  wrote  several  works  in  vindication  of  his  new  opin- 
ions. The  most  important  of  these  are  Loss  and  Gain,  a  religious  tale, 
relating  the  conversion  of  an  Anglican  to  the  Catholic  faith,  Lectures 
on  Anglican  Difficulties,  Lectures  on  the  Position  of  Catholics  in  Eng- 
land, Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua,  containing  the  history  of  his  religious 
opinions,  and  An  Essay  in  Aid  of  a  Grammar  of  Assent,  a  work  treat- 
ing of  fundamental  principles  of  Christian  belief. 

As  a  writer  of  the  mother  tongue,  Dr.  Newman  is,  perhaps,  unsur- 
passed for  ease  and  grace  of  expression,  and  for  general  purity  of  style. 
He  is  said  to  be  kindly  in  his  manners,  intuitively  discreet  in  his 
intercourse  with  others,  warm  in  his  friendships,  though  an  ascetic  in 
temperament. 

Cardinal  Wiseman. 

The  Most  Rev.  Nicholas  Wiseman,  D.D.,  1802-1865,  the  leading 
English  Catholic  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  very  eminent  as  a 
scholar  and  a  writer.  His  writings  are  numerous,  and  are  held  in 
high  estimation.  The  following  are  his  principal  works :  Lectures  on 
the  Connection  between  Science  and  Revealed  Religion ;  The  Real 
Presence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Blessed  Eucharist ;  Lectures  on  the  Principal  Doctrines  and  Practices 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  Besides  his  theological  works,  and  his 
numerous  controversial  pamphlets,  he  published  many  occasional  lec- 
tures and  essays  on  subjects  connected  with  literature  and  art.  These 
lectures  and  essays  showed  broad  views  and  generous  culture,  and 
gained  for  the  author  a  lasting  place  in  the  respect  of  his  countrymen 
outside  of  his  own  communion.  He  writes  with  a  singular  grace  and 
elegance,  and  his  thoughts  are  often  strikingly  beautiful. 

Archbishop  Manning. 

The  Most  Rev.  Henry  Edward  Manning,  D.  D.,  1808  ,  who 

succeeded  Cardinal  Wiseman  as  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  has  writ- 
ten many  works,  chiefly  theological,  which  give  him  a  high  place 
among  authors.  Those  of  most  note  are  the  Temporal  Mission  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  two  correlated  works,  the  I^out  Chief  Evils  of  the 
Day,  and  the  Fourfold  Sovereignty  of  God. 

Pusey. 

Edward  Bouverie  Pusey,  D.  D.,  1800 ,  Regius  Professor  of 

Hebrew  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  ablest 
18*  .  O 


210  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

and  most  voluminous  writers  in  the  English  Church  at  the  present  day, 
and  one  of  the  founders  of  a  school  of  theology  that  goes  by  liis  name. 
Dr.  Pusey  first  came  prominently  before  the  public  as  the  author, 
jointly  with  Newman,  Keble,  and  others,  of  a  series  of  pamphlets  and 
volumes,  begun  in  1833,  called  Tracts  for  the  Times.  Seldom,  in  the 
history  of  opinion,  has  such  an  influence  been  produced  by  the  force  of 
mere  discussion  and  argument,  as  that  produced  by  the  patient  and 
persistent  labors  of  these  recluse  and  quiet  scholars,  in  the  preparation 
of  this  series  of  Tracts.  In  addition  to  his  share  in  this  work,  Dr. 
Pusey  has  written  a  large  number  of  other  works  on  the  same  or  kin- 
dred subjects.  The  following  are  a  few :  Scriptural  Views  of  Holy 
Baptism ;  The  Eeal  Presence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  the 
Doctrine  of  the  English  Church ;  Eirenicon,  or  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land a  Portion  of  Christ's  One  Holy  Catholic  Church.  For  one  of  his 
sermons,  entitled  The  Holy  Eucharist  a  Comfort  to  the  Penitent, 
Dr.  Pusey  was  suspended  from  preaching  from  1843  to  1846. 

Bishop  Colenso. 

John  W.  Colenso,  D.  D.,  1814  ,  a  clergyman  of  the  English 

Church  and  Bishop  of  Natal,  in  South  Africa,  became  very  notorious 
by  the  publication  of  several  volumes  impugning  the  inspiration  and 
the  historical  accuracy  of  several  of  the  books  of  the  Bible.  His  prin- 
cipal work  was  The  Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of  Joshua  Critically 
Examined. 

Professor  Seeley. 

John  Kobert  Seeley, ,  Professor  of  Modem  History  in 

Cambridge,  has  won  great  distinction  by  his  work,  Ecce  Homo.  In 
this  work,  which  is  one  of  singular  beauty  and  elegance.  Prof.  Seeley 
has  endeavored  to  show,  more  fully  than  had  ever  before  been  done, 
the  human  side  of  our  Lord's  character.  The  studied  silence  of  the 
book  in  regard  to  our  Lord's  divine  character,  leaving  it  in  doubt 
whether  the  writer  really  believed  Him  to  be  divine,  has  caused  most 
Christians,  both  in  England  and  America,  to  look  with  disfavor  upon 
the  work,  notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  fascinations  of  its  style. 


#  F.  W.  Robertson. 

Kev.  Frederick  W.  Eobertson,  1816-1853,  is  one  of  the  few  clergy- 
men who  have  made  a  strong  impression  on  the  general  mind  by  the 
publication  of  Sermons.  Sermons  in  the  pulpit  form  no  inconsiderable 


TENNYSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      211 

part  of  the  mental  food  of  the  community.  But  they  are  usually 
a  drug  when  published,  as  every  bookseller  knows.  Robertson's  Ser- 
mons are  an  exception.  There  is  in  them  a  freshness  of  thought  and 
of  expression  that  have  given  them  a  place  in  popular  literature. 

"Whately. 

Richard  Whately,  D.  D.,  1787-1863,  was  educated  at  Oxford ;  took 
orders  in  the  English  Church,  and  rose  to  great  distinction,  occupying 
various  important  posts,  among  them  the  Bishopric  of  Kildare,  and 
the  Archbishopric  of  Dublin.  Whately's  literary  productions  are  so 
numerous  and  so  diversified  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  cite  in  this 
place  even  a  bare  list  of  them.  His  earliest  published  production  was 
the  well-known  work  entitled  Historic  Doubts  Relative  to  Napoleon 
Bonaparte.  It  was  an  instance  of  what  the  logicians  call  reductio  ad 
absurdum,  that  is,  the  young  churchman  attempted  to  show  that  the 
principles  of  reasoning  employed  by  infidels  against  the  New  Testa- 
ment might  be  made  to  prove  that  such  a  man  as  Napoleon  never 
existed.  The  work  attracted  much  attention  at  the  time,  and  was 
translated  into  several  continental  languages.  His  two  best  known 
works  are  his  treatises  on  Logic  and  Rhetoric. 

Faber. 

George  Stanley  Faber,  1773-1854,  was  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
prolific  writers  that  the  English  Church  has  produced  in  recent  times. 
His  writings  are  exceedingly  numerous,  and  are  all  such  as  mark  accu- 
rate scholarship  and  unusual  mental  vigor.  Tlie  following  are  the 
titles  of  a  few :  Dissertation  on  the  Prophecies  relating  to  the  Papal 
and  Mohammedan  Apostasies,  The  Origin  of  Papal  Idolatry,  The  Dif- 
ficulties of  Infidelity,  The  Difficulties  of  Romanism.  His  separate 
works  number  forty-two,  and  run  through  a  period  of  fifty-five  years 
of  active  authorship. 

Horne. 

Thomas  Hartwell  Horne,  D.  D.,  1780-1862,  is  known  among  bibli- 
cal students  everywhere  by  his  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. This  work,  published  originally  in  3  vols.,  large  8vo,  and 
gradually  increased  in  successive  editions  to  5  vols,,  became  the  ac- 
knowledged text-book  on  the  subject  in  nearly  all  institutions  of 
theological  learning,  both  in  England  and  America.  It  has  passed 
through  a  greater  number  of  editions,  probably,  than  any  other  work 
of  like  erudition  and  extent. 


212  ENGLISH     LITEEATUEE. 

Trench. 

Eichard  Chevenix  Trench,  D.  D.,  1807 ,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 

has  gained  great  celebrity  by  his  various  popular  essays  on  the  study 
of  English ;  he  is  also  a  voluminous  writer  on  theological  subjects. 

The  most  prominent  of  his  homiletic  works  are  Notes  on  the  Par- 
ables of  Our  Lord,  and  Notes  on  the  Miracles  of  Our  Lord.  He  be- 
longs to  the  moderate  Evangelical  party  in  the  Church  of  England, 
and  is  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  sound  Christian  thought  in  that 
country. 

By  his  essay  On  the  Study  of  Words,  and  by  his  English  Past  and 
Present,  he  has  done  more  than  any  other  writer  before  Max  Miiller, 
to  awaken  and  sustain  an  interest  in  the  popular  mind  for  the  study 
of  the  mother  tongue.  These  works  do  not  profess  to  be  strictly  sci- 
entific, and  some  of  the  author's  views  require  modification  or  correc- 
tion. But  they  have  the  great  merit  of  being  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
reader  of  general  culture,  and  of  urging  most  happily  the  claims  of 
a  hitherto  neglected  study.  Few  books  are  more  interesting  and 
profitable  for  the  young  college  student. 

Alford. 

Henry  Alford,  D.D.,  1810-1871,  Dean  of  Canterbury,  is  the  author 
of  several  important  works,  literary  and  theological.  The  most  elab- 
orate and  scholarly  of  his  works  is  his  Edition  of  the  New  Testament, 
in  4  vols.  One  of  his  best  known  works  is  a  small  volume  called  The 
Queen's  English.  This  was  intended  to  expose  some  of  the  common 
corruptions  of  the  English  tongue  by  careless  writers  and  speakers.  It 
owes  its  chief  celebrity,  however,  to  the  merciless  severity  with  which 
its  own  bad  English  was  criticised  by  Mr.  Moon  in  his  work,  The 
Dean's  English. 


VII.    MISCELLANEOUS. 

The  Ho^/vitts. 

William  and  Mary  Howitt,  with  their  sons  and  daughters,  and  some 
other  members  of  the  family,  seem  to  form  a  group  by  themselves. 
Their  writings  and  their  doings  have  for  some  reason  always  been  of 
special  interest  to  Americans. 

WiLT.iAM  Howitt,  1792 ,  was  born  of  Quaker  parentage,  in 

Heanor,  Derbyshire.  His  ancestors  on  both  sides  had  lived  for  many 
generations  in  the  same  neighborhood.    The  pastoral  and  old  world 


TENNYSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPOR AEIES.      213 

character  of  the  district  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  boyish 
imagination,  and  have  stamped  themselves  with  a  quaint  individuality 
upon  numerous  pages  of  his  writings.  His  principal  works  are  the 
following :  Book  of  the  Seasons ;  The  Kural  Life  of  England ;  The 
Boy's  Country  Book ;  Homes  and  Haunts  of  the  Poets ;  History  of 
the  Supernatural. 

Mary  Howitt,  1800 ,  originally  Mary  Botham,  was  married  to 

Mr.  Howitt  in  1821.  She  was  born  among  the  iron  forges  of  the  Forest 
of  Dean,  in  Gloucestershire,  although  her  childhood  and  youth,  until 
her  marriage,  were  spent  at  the  pleasantly  situated  little  town  of  Utt- 
oxeter,  in  Staffordshire.  Her  works  have  been  mostly  for  the  young. 
The  following  are  a  few  of  those  best  known :  Tales  in  Prose  and 
Verse ;  Hymns  and  Fireside  Verses ;  Birds  and  their  Nests ;  Birds 
and  Flowers ;  Tales  for  the  People  and  their  Children. 

Robert  and  William  Chambers. 

Eobert  Chambers,  1802-1871,  and  William  Chambers,  1800  , 

authors  and  publishers,  of  Edinburgh,  are  known  and  honored  wher- 
ever English  books  are  read,  or  the  English  language  is  spoken. 

By  their  sagacity  and  enterprise,  these  brothers  have  unaided  accom- 
plished what  the  vast  and  unwieldy  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful 
Knowledge  undertook, — they  have  made  knowledge  cheap  in  Great 
Britain,  and  they  have  diffused  it  as  no  other  agency  before  ever  did 
in  that  country.  They  began  as  booksellers,  and,  combining  author- 
ship with  trade  to  an  extent  not  usual,  have  had  a  wonderful  success. 
Both  in  what  they  have  written  and  in  what  they  have  published, 
their  object  has  been  to  present  those  subjects  which  were  of  interest 
to  the  greatest  number  of  readers,  to  make  them  attractive  in  style  and 
form  and  easily  understood,  and  at  such  a  low  rate  of  cost  as  to  secure 
a  large  circulation.  The  idea,  of  course,  has  no  novelty.  Many  have 
thought  and  tried  the  same  thing.  The  peculiarity  in  the  work  of 
these  men  has  been  the  sagacity  and  sound  judgment  which  have 
marked  all  their  enterprises. 

They  began  in  1832  tlie  Edinburgh  (weekly)  Journal,  which  was 
their  first  great  success.  It  obtained  almost  immediately  a  circulation 
of  50,000,  which  was  increased  afterwards  to  90,000.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  The  People's  Edition  of  Standard  English  Authors ;  Cham- 
bers's Miscellany ;  Chambers's  Educational  Course ;  Papers  for  the 
People,  etc.  Then  came  the  Encyclopaedia  of  English  Literature; 
Encyclopaedia  for  the  People ;  Information  for  the  People ;  the  Book 
of  Pays,  etc. 


214  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

The  sales  of  these  various  publications  have  been  enormous.  In 
connection  with  this,  it  should  be  said  that  the  works  which  they  have 
thus  spread  so  widely  are  of  a  kind  to  do  good.  There  is  not  probably 
a  line  in  all  that  they  have  sent  forth  to  the  world  which  a  good  man 
would  desire  to  expunge,  while  the  manifest  tendency  of  it  all  has 
been  to  elevate  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  the  readers. 

Crabb  Robinson. 

Henry  Crabb  Robinson,  1775-1867,  is  known  almost  exclusively  by 
his  memoirs,  published  after  his  death,  under  the  title,  Henry  Crabb 
Robinson's  Diary,  Reminiscences,  and  Correspondence.  This  work  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  English  language,  for  it  is  nothing 
less  than  a  personal  record  of  men  and  things,  kept  by  one  who  was 
for  seventy  years  intimately  associated  with  the  leading  men  and 
women  of  England,  France,  and  Germany. 

His  Diary  has  no  especial  merits  of  style.  It  is  a  plain  straight- 
forward narrative,  interspersed  with  bits  of  criticism  or  reflection. 
The  great  charm  of  the  work  consists  in  its  simplicity  approaching 
almost  to  naivete,  and  its  value  consists  in  the  picture  which  it  pre- 
sents of  the  growth  of  English  society  and  letters.  He  who  wishes  to 
have  a  continuous,  life-like  presentment  of  the  entire  nineteenth  cen- 
tury up  to  1865,  cannot  do  better  than  read  this  stupendous  record,  for 
such  it  really  is.  Not  to  every  man  is  it  given  to  live  to  the  age  of 
fourscore  and  ten  with  unimpaired  faculties,  mingling  with  the  wisest 
and  wittiest  of  three  generations,  and  embodying  the  most  pleasant 
experiences  in  an  unbroken  narrative. 

Richardson. 

Charles  Richardson,  LL.D.,  1775-1865,  is  well  known  as  the  author 
of  a  New  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language.  This  work  of  Rich- 
ardson is  altogether  unique.  The  other  Dictionaries  that  we  have  are 
built  up  by  accretion  one  upon  another,  or  have  been  developed  one 
from  another  —  Webster  from  Johnson,  Johnson  from  Bailey,  and  so 
on,  going  back  to  Edward  Philips's  little  book.  The  New  World  of 
Words.  But  Richardson  struck  out  boldly  into  a  new  path.  He 
adopted  as  a  cardinal  principle  the  dictum  of  Home  Tooke,  that  each 
word  has  inherently  but  one  meaning,  and  this  one  primary  meaning 
must  first  be  ascertained,  not  by  arbitrary  conjecture,  but  by  etymo- 
logical and  historical  research ;  and  that  all  the  secondary  and  de- 
rived meanings  should  be  subordinated  to  it,  and  be  shown  to  spring 
from  it,  in  historical  and  logical  order.     Another  feature  of  his  work, 


TENNYSON    AND    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.      215 

equally  prominent,  is  his  accumulation  of  quotations  under  each  word 
or  family  of  words,  showing  its  use  in  successive  periods,  giving  in  fact 
the  materials  for  a  history  of  the  word. 

Eichardson's  work  is  so  incomplete  that  it  can  never  supply  the 
place  of  a  dictionary  for  general  use.  Yet  it  is  so  rich  in  materials 
that  no  literary  or  professional  man  can  well  do  without  it.  The  car- 
dinal principles  upon  which  it  is  based  are  the  true  foundations  of  the 
science  of  lexicography,  and  if  ever  a  general  and  comprehensive 
English  dictionary  shall  be  framed,  in  which  these  principles  shall  be 
fully  carried  out,  it  will  constitute  an  era  in  English  lexicography. 

Smith's  Dictionaries. 

William  Smith,  LL.  D.,  1814  ,  is  known  to  all  scholars  by  his 

Classical  and  Bible  Dictionaries.  He  is  perhaps  the  most  widely  known 
of  all  English  classical  scholars  of  the  present  day.  Those  who  have 
been  benefited  by  his  labors  may  be  counted  by  hundreds  of  thousands. 
His  most  celebrated  works  are  the  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Koman 
Antiquities,  the  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography  and 
Mythology,  and  the  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Boman  Geography. 
These  six  large  volumes,  in  the  latest  edition,  constitute  the  most 
valuable  contribution  ever  made  in  English  to  the  classical  student's 
working-library,  and  completely  supersede  all  other  works  of  the  kind. 
Next  in  importance  to  these  is  Smith's  Latin-English  Dictionary,  an 
admirable  work,  based  upon  those  of  Freund  and  Forcellini.  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  in  three  volumes,  stands  also  at  the  head  of 
works  of  its  kind,  covering  the  entire  ground  of  biblical  lore.  The 
mere  list  of  works  of  such  magnitude  and  excellence  is  enough  to  fill 
the  lover  of  sound  learning  with  admiration  of  the  editor,  who  has 
displayed  in  them  the  greatest  zeal,  and  also  the  greatest  skill  in  avail- 
ing himself  of  the  resources  of  his  numerous  contributors  and  coad- 
jutors. 

Russell  the  Times  Correspondent. 

"William  Howard  Russell,  LL.D.,  1821  ,  has   acquired  great 

celebrity  as  Special  Correspondent  of  the  London  Times. 

His  name  is  the  representative  of  a  certain  conspicuous  phase  of 
modern  journalism.  Although  not  the  earliest,  he  is  the  chief  of  the 
now  numerous  and  powerful  class  of  special  war  correspondents. 

During  the  Crimean  war  he  was  sent  out  by  the  London  Times  as 
their  special  correspondent,  and  such  were  his  credentials  that  he  was 
placed  on  intimate  terms  with  the  leading  English  ofiicers,  and  en- 


216  ENGLISH    LITERATURE. 

abled  to  collect  the  materials  for  that  series  of  brilliant  letters  which 
established  his  fame.  These  letters  were  by  no  means  stinted  in  their 
denunciations  of  mismanagement,  and  were  among  the  prime  agents 
in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  public  to  the  defects  of  the  army  organiza- 
tion, and  paving  the  way  to  reform. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  he  was  again 
sent  out  as  special  correspondent,  and  followed  the  Northern  army 
through  their  disastrous  campaigns  until  the  summer  of  1862.  In 
1866,  he  accompanied  the  Austrian  army  in  its  disastrous  Sadowa 
campaign,  and  more  recently  he  went  with  the  Prussians  in  their  vic- 
torious march  from  the  Rhine  to  Paris. 

Russell  is  the  prince  of  Special  Correspondents.  He  possesses  the 
happy  faculty  of  seizing  the  essential  features  of  a  campaign,  a  battle, 
a  skirmish,  or  a  journey,  and  presenting  them  in  a  clear  and  vigorous 
style.  A  man  of  culture  and  education,  he  writes  to  please  men  of 
like  tastes  with  himself.  Hence  his  freedom  from  anything  like  bom- 
bast or  exaggeration.  On  the  other  hand,  his  views  and  his  way  of 
looking  at  things  are  essentially  narrow,  not  to  say  unjust.  He  car- 
ries with  him,  wherever  he  may  go,  the  atmosphere  of  England.  This 
will  explain  his  many  blunders  in  the  United  States  and  his  evident 
incapacity  to  take  a  broad  and  rational  view  of  the  great  civil  contro- 
versy. No  one  can  surpass  him^  however,  in  the  power  of  dashing 
off  currente  calamo  a  vivid  and  accurate  description  of  a  battle  in  time 
for  the  first  mail  home.  This  ability  to  furnish  the  very  latest  news 
fresh  from  the  spot  and  in  a  pleasing  form,  has  revolutionized  the  de- 
partment of  newspaper-correspondence  and  called  forth  a  host  of  imi- 
tators. 

The  London  Times. 

The  Times,  of  London,  is  the  largest  and  most  influential  newspaper 
in  the  world. 

This  paper  was  founded  in  1785,  under  the  title  of  The  Daily  Uni- 
versal Register,  which  was  changed  in  1788  to  its  present  title  The 
Times.  The  founder  and  proprietor  was  John  Walter,  a  printer.  It 
had  no  extraordinary  merit  or  success  until  1803,  when  John  Walter, 
Jr.,  son  of  the  preceding,  became  joint  proprietor  and  sole  manager. 
Mr.  Walter  was  for  many  years  editor  as  well  as  manager.  The  most 
conspicuous  features  in  his  management  were  enterprise  in  getting  the 
latest  news,  and  fearlessness  in  expressing  opinion.  The  London 
Times  is  one  of  tlie  marvels  of  modern  civilization.  Tliis  newspaper, 
in  its  issues  for  a  single  month,  possibly  in  a  single  issue,  contains 
more  that  is  of  value,  for  literary  ability,  and  for  the  amount  and 


TENNYSON  AND   HIS  CONTEMPOE AEIES.        217 

variety  of  knowledge  conveyed,  than  all  that  was  ever  written  in  the 
language  from  the  earliest  ages  down  to  the  time  of  Chaucer. 

Other  Journals. 

The  Times  is  only  a  type  of  a  class.  It  is  now  rivalled,  in  some 
respects  eclipsed,  by  a  considerable  number  of  journals  in  the  metrop- 
olis, and  it  is  almost  equalled  by  a  large  number  in  other  parts  of 
the  kingdom. 

The  Weeklies. 

In  mere  literary  ability,  and  simply  as  organs  for  the  expression  of 
opinion,  without  reference  to  the  item  of  news,  all  these  great  dailies 
are  now  distanced  by  the  Weeklies,  of  which  a  conspicuous  example 
is  The  Saturday  Review. 
19 


Part   II. 
American  Literature. 


D^«^C 


INTRODUCTION. 

Ameeican  Literature  is  that  part  of  English  Literature  which 
has  been  produced  upon  American  soil. 

American  Literature  dates  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  Ameri- 
can Colonies. 

Nearly  all  the  leaders  in  these  enterprises  were  men  of  education, 
graduates  of  the  English  Universities.  TKey  came  to  the  New  World 
quite  as  much  in  defence  of  opinions  as  in  quest  of  fortune.  The  pen 
and  the  printing-press  shared  from  the  first  with  the  musket,  the  axe, 
and  the  plough,  in  the  work  which  the  early  American  colonists  set 
before  them. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Early  Colonial  Period. 

(1608-1760.) 

The  first  period  of  this  literature  is  distinctly  marked.  It  includes 
all  that  was  produced  in  the  Colonies  down  to  the  time  when  the 
political  ferment  began  which  ended  in  the  separation  from  the 
mother  country. 

The  works  of  this  period,  though  from  the  first  racy  of  the  soil,  are 
yet  not  so  distinctly  American  as  those  produced  afterwards.     Those 

219 


220  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

early  colonists  were  still  Englishmen  at  heart,  and  most  of  what  they 
wrote  saw  the  liglit  first  in  England.  The  types,  the  printing-presses, 
the  paper  were  still  mostly  there ;  the  audience  to  which  they  ap- 
pealed was  quite  as  much  English  as  American. 

The  first  works  in  English  written  on  American  soil  came  from 
Virginia. 

"Whitaker's  Good  Newes. 

Good  Newes  from  Virginia,  published  in  1613,  was  the  work  of 
Alexander  Whitaker,  one  of  the  settlers  of  the  town  of  Henrico,  on 
the  James  Eiver. 

Whitaker  was  of  good  English  family,  his  father  being  the  distin- 
guished theologian.  Dr.  William  Whitaker,  Master  of  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge.  Young  Whitaker  came  to  America  in  a  truly  mis- 
sionary spirit,  and  engaged  earnestly  in  his  vocation  as  a  Christian 
minister.  It  was  he  who  baptized  Pocahontas,  and  who  also  married 
her  to  Eolfe. 

Sandys's  Ovid. 

The  first  purely  literary  work  produced  on  American  soil  was  the 
Translation  of  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  by  George  Sandys,  in  1621. 
Sandys  was,  at  the  time,  Treasurer  to  the  Virginia  Colony,  and  the 
work  referred  to  was  penned  on  the  banks  of  the  James  Eiver.  San- 
dys's poem  was  held  in  high  respect  by  Dryden  and  Pope.  Dryden 
pronounced  him  the  best  versifier  of  his  age. 

Vaughan's  Golden  Fleece. 

Another  work  written  about  the  same  time,  but  in  a  remote  north- 
eastern settlement,  was  The  Golden  Fleece,  by  Sir  William  Vaughan. 
This  work  was  a  small  quarto,  partly  in  prose  and  partly  in  verse, 
humorous  and  satirical,  intended  to  set  forth  the  general  degeneracy 
of  manners  in  England  and  the  advantages  of  emigrating  to  America. 
It  was  written  at  Cambrioll,  the  author's  plantation  in  the  southern 
part  of  Newfoundland,  and  was  sent  to  London  for  publication,  with 
a  view  of  inducing  other  settlers  to  join  him. 

Wood's  New  England's  Prospect. 

New  England's  Prospect  was  the  title  of  a  descriptive  work  by 
William  Wood,  and  was  printed  in  London  in  1634.  Wood  was  a 
resident  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  After  spending  four  years  there, 
he  went  to  London  and  published  the  work  just  named.    The  work  is 


THE    EARLY    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  221 

written  in  a  cheerful  strain,  and  some  parts  of  it  are  in  verse,  in  the 
common  heroic  couplet. 

The  First  Printing-Press. 

The  first  printing-press  in  America  was  at  Harvard  College,  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts.     It  was  set  up  in  the  President's  house,  in  1639. 

The  First  Printed  Book. 

The  first  book  printed  in  the  American  Colonies  was  the  celebrated 
Bay  Psalm  Book,  Cambridge,  1640.  Some  small  pamphlets  had  ap- 
peared before,  as  the  Freeman's  Oath,  and  an  Almanac,  but  the  Bay- 
Psalm  Book  was  the  first  book  issued. 

The  Bay  Psalm  Book. 

The  men  who  were  chiefly  engaged  in  preparing  the  Bay  Psalm 
Book,  were  the  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  of  Dorchester,  the  Rev.  John 
Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  of  world-wide  celebrity  as  the  "  apostle  to  the  In- 
dians," and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Welde,  also  of  Roxbury.  The  work 
was  committed  a  few  years  later  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Dunster,  the  first 
President  of  Harvard  College,  to  be  revised.  Thus  revised,  the  book 
found  its  way  into  general  use.  It  was  adopted  and  used  almost  ex- 
clusively in  all  the  New  England  colonies,  down  nearly  to  the  period 
of  the  Revolution. 

John  Cotton. 

Rev.  John  Cotton,  1585-1652,  is  known  by  his  Milk  for  Babes,  Meat 
for  Strong  Men,  and  sundry  other  publications  suited  to  the  times. 
Milk  for  Babes  was  a  catechism  for  instructing  young  children  in  the 
elements  of  Christian  doctrine.  The  piece,  though  small,  was  of  great 
influence  and  importance.  It  was  one  of  the  documents  which  com- 
posed the  famous  New  England  Primer,  and  as  such  was  for  many 
generations  stored  in  the  memory  of  almost  every  New  England  child. 

Thomas  Shepard. 

Rev.  Thomas  Shepard,  1605-1649,  was  one  of  the  shining  lights  of 
the  Massachusetts  Colony.  His  best  known  work  is  The  Parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins  Opened.  Out  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  quota- 
tions which  President  Edwards  makes  from  various  authors,  in  his 
Work  on  the  Affections,  more  than  seventy-five  are  from  Mr.  Shepard. 
19* 


222  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Roger  Williams. 

Roger  "VYilliams,  1606-1683,  famous  as  the  apostle  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty,  and  as  tlie  founder  of  a  State  established  on  that  prin- 
ciple, is  favorably  known  also  by  his  writings,  especially  by  his  Bloody 
Tenent  of  Persecution.  In  1636  he  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city 
of  Providence,  in  which  men  of  all  creeds  might  enjoy  full  religious 
liberty ;  and  going  to  England,  he  obtained  a  charter  for  the  Province 
of  Rhode  Island,  of  which  he  was  himself  afterwards  President.  The 
main  feature  of  his  system  was  the  doctrine  that  the  State  ought  not  to 
punish  for  breaches  of  the  first  table  of  the  law.  In  this  he  was  in 
advance  of  all  his  contemporaries,  being  the  first  bold  advocate  of  entire 
and  absolute  toleration  in  matters  of  religion. 

John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians. 

John  Eliot,  1604-1690,  distinctively  known  in  colonial  annals  as 
the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  has  a  place  in  literature  by  numerous  re- 
ligious works  written  in  English,  but  chiefly  by  his  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  into  the  Indian  tongue.  He  was  also  one  of  the  three  min- 
isters who  prepared  the  Bay  Psalm  Book. 

Eliot's  Indian  Bible  was  printed  in  1658-1663,  on  the  press  which 
had  been  set  up  in  the  President's  house  at  Cambridge  in  1639,  and 
was  the  first  Bible  printed  in  the  New  World. 

Richard  Mather. 

Richard  Mather,  1596-1669,  eminent  as  a  religious  leader  in  the 
infant  settlement,  published  several  controversial  treatises,  and  was  one 
of  the  three  ministers  who  prepared  the  famous  Bay  Psalm  Book. 

Increase  Mather. 

Increase  Mather,  D.  D.,  1639-1723,  one  of  the  most  prominent  fig- 
ures in  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  was  the  author  of  a  large 
number  of  works,  among  which  may  particularly  be  named  that  on 
Remarkable  Providences,  and  a  History  of  the  Wars  with  the  Indians. 

He  was  for  sixteen  years  President  of  Harvard,  and  he  exerted  a 
commanding  influence  both  in  Church  and  State.  Though  mingling 
much  in  afiairs,  he  was  indefatigable  as  a  student,  passing  two-thirds 
of  the  day  among  his  books,  and  he  left  behind  him  no  less  than  eighty- 
five  publications,  mostly  religious  and  theological. 


THE    EAKL.Y    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  223 

Cotton  Mather. 

Cotton  Mather,  D.  D.,  1663-1728,  the  greatest  of  the  famous  Mather 
family,  is  also  in  some  respects  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
early  history  of  New  England ;  and  the  Magnalia  Christi  Americana  is, 
on  the  whole,  the  greatest,  and  the  best  known,  of  his  almost  intermi- 
nable list  of  works. 

If  there  is  anything  in  blood  and  breeding,  Cotton  Mather  would 
seem  to  have  had  an  hereditary  right  to  be,  as  in  fact  he  was,  a  theologian 
and  a  scholar.  His  father.  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  was  a  man  of  books, 
spending  usually  two-thirds  of  the  day  in  his  library.  The  grandfather, 
old  Eichard  Mather,  likewise  was  a  man  of  mark  for  his  scholarly 
habits  and  attainments.  The  same  is  true,  but  in  a  still  higher  degree, 
of  the  grandfather  on  the  mother's  side,  the  "great  John  Cotton"  of 
the  infant  colony. 

The  list  of  Cotton  Mather's  printed  works,  given  by  his  son  Samuel, 
numbers  three  hundred  and  eighty-two.  Even  this  is  not  complete, 
several  of  his  publications  having  been  brought  to  light  afterwards. 
Many  of  these,  of  course,  were  only  tracts,  or  occasional  sermons.  But 
a  large  number  of  them  were  elaborate  and  stately  volumes. 

His  greatest  work,  Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  purports  to  be  an 
ecclesiastical  history  of  New  England,  from  its  first  planting  in  1620 
to  the  year  1698,  but  includes  also  civil  history,  an  account  of  Harvard 
College,  of  the  Indian  wars,  and  the  witchcraft  troubles,  and  a  large 
number  of  biographies.  New  England's  worthies  are  indeed  largely 
indebted  for  their  perpetuity  of  fame  to  the  embalming  influence  of 
Cotton  Mather's  genius  and  kindness  of  heart.  These  pen-portraits 
of  his  contemporaries  are  now  among  the  most  precious  of  all  his 
writings. 

After  the  Magnalia,  Mather's  next  most  important  works  are  Mem- 
orable Providences  relating  to  Witchcraft ;  and  The  Wonders  of  the 
Invisible  World,  being  an  Account  of  the  Trial  of  Several  Witches. 

Anne  Bradstreet. 

Mrs.  Anne  Bradstreet,  1612-1672,  daughter  of  one  and  wife  of 
another  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  published  in  1640  a  volume  of 
poems  which  were  for  the  time  in  high  repute,  and  won  for  her  in 
England  the  title  of  the  Tenth  Muse.  Mrs.  Bradstreet  worthily  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  w'omen  writers  of  America.  One  of  her  descendants 
is  Richard  H.  Dana,  the  well-known  author. 


224  AMERICAN    LITERATUEE. 

President  Blair. 

James  Blair,  D.  D.,  1656-1743,  the  first  President  of  William  and 
Mary  College,  Virginia,  published  in  1722  an  extended  work  with  the 
title,  Our  Saviour's  Sermon  on  tlie  Mount. 

It  was  mainly  by  Blair's  continued  and  persistent  efforts  that  the  col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary  was  established  and  put  on  a  permanent 
footing.  He  was  named  as  President  in  the  charter  itself,  and  held 
the  office  until  his  death.  He  was  Commissary  of  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don for  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  in  virtue  of  this  office  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  of  State.  He  was  a  clergyman  over  sixty  years. 
Commissary  fifty-four  years,  and  President  fifty  years.  He  was  buried 
in  the  churchyard  at  Jamestown. 

Col.  \Villiam  Byrd. 

William  Byrd,  1674-1744,  a  wealthy  and  accomplished  Virginia 
gentleman,  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  narratives  and  descriptive 
pieces  known  as  The  Westover  Manuscripts. 

These  important  documents  remained  in  manuscript  until  1841 
when  they  were  printed  by  Edward  Ruffin  of  Petersburg,  under  the 
title  of  The  Westover  Manuscripts,  being  so  called  from  the  estate  of 
Westover,  on  the  north  branch  of  the  James  Eiver,  where  the  author 
lived. 

James  Logan. 

James  Logan,  1674-1751,  a  man  of  note  in  the  early  settlement  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  the  founder  of  the  Loganian  Library  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  the  author  of  several  valuable  works,  both  literary  and  sci- 
entific. Logan  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  came  to 
America  as  Secretary  to  William  Penn,  on  the  occasion  of  the  second 
visit  of  the  latter  to  his  province. 

Thomas  Chalkley. 
Thomas  Chalkley,  1675-1749,  another  eminent  Friend,  was  the 
author  of  a  series  of  religious  Tracts,  and  of  a  Journal  containing  an 
account  of  his  experiences  as  an  itinerant  preacher.  Chalkley  was 
born  in  London.  Coming  to  America,  he  made  Philadelphia  his 
headquarters,  but  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  travelling 
through  New  England,  the  Soutliern  States,  the  West  Indies,  and 
elsewhere,  as  a  voluntary  missionary,  preaching  the  gospel.  His  writ- 
ings are  remarkable  for  their  unpretending  simplicity,  and  often  for 
an  unafiected  pathos  and  beauty. 


THE    EARLY    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  225 

John  Woolman. 
John  Woolman,  1720-1772,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  noted 
preacher  among  the  Friends,  is  favorably  known  in  letters  by  his 
Essays  and  Epistles,  but  more  particularly  by  his  Journal.  This  has 
lately  been  republished,  being  edited  with  pious  and  loving  care  by 
the  poet  Whittier.  Charles  Lamb  says,  in  one  of  the  Essays  of  Elia, 
"  Get  the  writings  of  John  Woolman  by  heart,  and  learn  to  love  the 
early  Quakers." 

Cad^A^allader  Golden. 

Cadwallader  Golden,  M.  D.,  1681-1776,  was  the  earliest  author  of 
note  in  the  city  of  New  York,  of  those  at  least  who  wrote  in  English. 
Colden's  chief  work  was  a  History  of  the  Five  Indian  Nations,  which 
has  been  several  times  reprinted,  both  in  England  and  America.  He 
wrote  also  a  philosophical  treatise.  On  the  Principles  of  Action  in 
Matter,  and  numerous  scientific  papers.  He  was  much  devoted  to 
Botany,  and  was  a  correspondent  of  Linnaeus,  Buftbn,  and  other  emi- 
nent scientists.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society. 

Samuel  Johnson. 

Samuel  Johnson,  D.  D.,  1696-1722,  is  considered  the  father  of 
Episcopacy  in  Connecticut.  He  was  a  man  of  distinguished  attain- 
ments and  ability,  and  upon  the  establishment  of  King's  (now  Colum- 
bia) College,  New  York,  he  was  chosen  President, —  but  retired  finally 
to  his  original  charge  in  Stratford,  Ct.  He  published  several  works, 
among  them  A  System  of  Morality  and  various  controversial  tracts  in 
favor  of  Episcopacy. 

President  Clap. 

Eev.  Thomas  Clap,  1703-1767,  one  of  the  early  Presidents  of  Yale 
College,  eminent  for  his  attainments  in  science  and  letters,  was  the 
author  of  several  valuable  works.  Among  these  are  an  Essay  on  the 
Keligious  Condition  of  Colleges ;  a  Vindication  of  the  Doctrines  of 
New  England  Churches ;  an  Essay  on  the  Nature  and  Foundation  of 
Moral  Virtue  and  Obligation ;  and  a  History  of  Yale  College. 

President  Dickinson. 
Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  1688-1747,  first  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  was  an  eloquent  preacher  and  a  writer  of  acknowledged 
ability.     He  published  many  sermons  and  theological  treatises,  and  a 
volume  of  Familiar  Letters  upon  Important  Subjects  in  Religion. 


226  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

President  Burr. 

Aaron  Burr,  1716-1757,  second  President  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  was  a  man  of  no  little  note  as  a  writer.  His  chief  publication 
was  a  Treatise  on  the  Supreme  Deity  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

He  was  a  son-in-law  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  father  of  the  Aaron 
Burr  who  figured  so  largely  in  political  affairs. 

President  Edwards. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  1703-1758,  third  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  is  considered  the  greatest  metaphysician  that  America 
has  produced,  and  one  of  the  greatest  that  has  ever  lived.  His  works 
are  numerous  and  varied,  but  that  by  which  he  is  most  known  is  his 
essay  on  the  Freedom  of  the  Will. 

His  other  works  are  exceedingly  numerous,  and  several  of  them 
are  second  in  value  and  importance  only  to  that  on  the  Will.  Those 
with  which  the  public  are  most  familiar  are :  The  Eeligious  Affec- 
tions; The  History  of  Redemption;  and  The  End  for  which  God 
Created  the  W^orld. 

President  Davies. 

Eev.  Samuel  Davies,  1723-1761,  fourth  President  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  was  in  his  day  the  most  famous  preacher  in  America. 

The  traditions  in  regard  to  the  power  of  President  Davies  as  a  pul- 
pit orator  fully  equal  those  in  regard  to  the  popular  and  forensic  elo- 
quence of  Patrick  Henry.  Davies's  Sermons  are  to  this  day  among 
the  most  popular  to  be  found  in  that  class  of  literature.  Davies  was 
the  author  also  of  a  number  of  excellent  Hymns,  some  of  which  hold 
their  place  in  the  hymnals  of  the  present  day. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Revolutionary  Period. 

(1760-1800.) 

The  political  ferment  wliicli  ended  in  the  war  for  independence 
and  the  establishment  of  a  separate  nationality  gave  a  peculiar  type 
to  the  literature  of  the  time.  The  agitation  spoken  of  began  as  early 
as  1760,  and  did  not  end  before  the  close  of  the  century.  This  period, 
therefore,  from  1760  to  1800,  forms  the  limits  of  our  Second  Chapter. 

The  battle  of  the  Ke volution  was  fought  by  the  pen  as  well  as  by 
the  sword.  The  leaders  in  the  fight  against  the  mother  country  had 
not  only  to  argue  their  case  before  the  tribunal  of  the  world,  but  to 
educate  their  own  countrymen  up  to  the  point  of  armed  resistance, 
and  to  hold  them  there  during  a  long  and  gloomy  contest.  After  the 
war  Avas  over,  there  was  the  not  less  grave  and  difficult  task  of  guiding 
the  opinions  of  the  nation  and  of  moulding  the  political  elements  into 
form  and  symmetry. 

In  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  and  varied  work,  the  political 
writers  of  the  period  used  freely  almost  every  variety  of  style  that 
could  be  made  available  for  the  purpose.  They  made  grave  and  formal 
argument ;  they  employed  also  warm  and  patriotic  appeal.  The  phi- 
lippics of  Patrick  Henry,  Otis,  and  the  elder  Adams  were  ably  seconded 
by  wit  and  song  from  Freneau,  Brackenridge,  and  Hopkinson.  They 
roused  their  own  side  by  patriotic  ballads,  they  stung  the  enemy  with 
squibs.  The  wit  of  the  revolutionary  period,  though  not  perhaps  of 
a  very  high  order  of  literature,  was  yet  no  insignificant  part  of  the 
moral  force  by  which  the  war  of  independence  was  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful termination. 

227 


228  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Benjamin  Franklin. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  1706-1790,  may  be  viewed  under  three  aspects, 
—  as  a  sage,  a  statesman,  and  a  man  of  science;  in  each  aspect, 
he  stands  among  the  first  men  of  all  time.  His  writings,  which 
are  numerous,  filling  10  octavo  volumes,  consist:  1.  Of  his  Autobiog- 
raphy and  of  Essays  on  Moral  and  Keligious  Subjects  and  the  Economy 
of  Life ;  2.  Of  Essays  on  Politics,  Commerce,  and  Political  Economy ; 
3.  Of  Papers  on  Electricity  and  other  Scientific  and  Philosophical 
Subjects.  Among  the  most  noted  of  his  publications  was  an  annual 
almanac,  purporting  to  be  written  by  Kichard  Saunders,  and  com- 
monly known  as  Poor  Eichard's  Almanac.  It  contained,  besides  the 
matters  customary  in  such  publications,  a  series  of  pithy  sayings  in 
regard  to  economy  and  thrift  and  the  minor  morals  of  life.  The  Alma- 
nac was  exceedingly  popular,  and  was  continued  for  twenty-six  years. 
Some  of  the  best  things  that  Franklin  ever  wrote,  and  that  have  since 
become  proverbs  among  all  English-speaking  people,  appeared  first 
in  this  Almanac.  ^ 

George  Washington. 

George  Washington,  1732-1799,  was  so  immeasurably  great  in  other 
respects,  that  it  seems  almost  a  profanation  to  speak  of  him  as  a 
writer.  Yet  his  writings  fill  twelve  octavo  volumes,  and  are  a  valu- 
able part  of  the  political  literature  of  the  time.  Most  of  Washington's 
writings  are  ofiicial  papers.  Some  are  diaries  or  journals,  some  are 
agricultural  essays,  yet  all  are  distinctly  Washingtonian.  He  had 
formed  for  himself  a  style,  the  unconscious  outgrowth  of  his  character, 
which  is  as  distinctly  marked  as  his  handwriting.  Even  in  his  Fare- 
well Address,  in  which  he  invited  the  co-operation  of  Madison,  Ham- 
ilton, and  Jay,  the  document,  in  its  final  form,  gives  unmistakable 
evidence  of  the  moulding  hand  of  its  original  author.  "It  is  unlike 
any  composition  of  Madison  or  Hamilton,  in  a  certain  considerate 
moral  tone  which  distinguished  all  Washington's  writings.  It  is 
stamped  by  the  position,  the  character,  the  very  turns  of  phrase  of  the 
great  man  who  gave  it  to  his  country." — Duyckinck. 

The  Elder  Adams. 

John  Adams,  1735-1826,  one  of  the  originators  and  leaders  of  the 
American  Revolution,  and  the  second  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  a  political  writer  of  great  ability,  and  by  his  writings  contributed 
largely  to  the  success  of  the  American  cause.  His  writings  have  been 
collected  and  edited  by  his  grandson,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  in  10 


THE    REVOLUTIONAKY    PERIOD.  229 

vols.,  8vo.    His  Letters  to  his  Wife  have  also  been  published  in  2 
vols. 

Thomas  Jefferson. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  1743-1826,  third  President  of  the  United  States, 
in  addition  to  all  his  other  merits,  won  for  himself  an  imperishable 
name,  as  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  His  other 
writings  are  numerous  and  fill  many  volumes.  Those  best  known  are 
his  Notes  on  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  his  Manual  of  Parliamentary 
Practice.  Jefferson  made  no  pretensions  to  oratory,  and  seldom  en- 
gaged in  debate.  But  as  a  skilful  writer,  he  had  no  superior  among 
his  contemporaries  and  associates.  Some  of  his  messages  are  models 
of  political  eloquence. 

James  Madison. 

James  Madison,  1751-1836,  fourth  President  of  the  United' States, 
contributed  to  the  political  literature  of  the  country  two  works  of 
great  importance,  namely,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Federalist, 
and  a  Report  of  the  Debates  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the 
Constitution. 

His  political  writings  are  second  only  to  those  of  Hamilton  in  abil- 
ity and  influence.  His  style  has  not  the  intense  nervous  energy  of 
Jefferson's,  but  his  argumentation  is  considered  sounder. 

Alexander  Hamilton. 

Alexander  Hamihon,  1757-1804,  was  the  ablest  of  all  the  political 
writers  of  the  Revolution.  The  Federalist,  which  was  mainly  his 
work,  is  not  only  an  important  national  treasure,  but  an  enduring 
monument  of  intellectual  and  literary  greatness. 

Hamilton's  fame  as  a  writer  and  thinker  rests  chiefly  upon  his  con- 
tributions to  the  Federalist.  Out  of  the  eighty-five  essays  contained 
therein,  fifty-one  are  by  him,  twenty-nine  by  James  Madison,  five  by 
John  Jay.  These  essays  appeared  in  the  interval  between  the  publi- 
cation and  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  were  designed  to  ex- 
plain its  merits  to  the  people  at  large.  Hamilton's  contributions  are 
easily  distinguished  from  the  others  "  by  their  superior  comprehensive- 
ness, practicalness,  originality,  and  condensed  and  polished  diction." 

John  Jay. 

John  Jay,  1745-1829,  another  conspicuous  political  writer  of  the 
Revolutionary  period,  was  associated  with  Hamilton  and  Madison  in 
20 


230  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

the  production  of  the  Federalist.  Jay  wrote  only  five  of  the  papers 
in  the  Federalist,  being  prevented  from  writing  others  by  an  injury 
received  in  the  interim.  He  is,  however,  universally  accepted  as  one 
of  the  great  men  who  contributed  powerfully  by  his  pen  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  national  independence  and  to  the  organization  and  settlement 
of  the  new  government. 

Dr.  Witherspoon. 

John  Witherspoon,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1722-1794,  sixth  in  the  line  of 
illustrious  Presidents  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  contributed  largely 
to  the  literature  of  the  period,  and  was  in  various  ways  one  of  the 
leaders  of  public  opinion,  both  political  and  religious. 

He  took  an  active  part  in  Provincial  affairs ;  represented  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  Jersey  in  the  Continental  Congress,  from  1776  to  1782 ; 
and  was  one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He 
was  a  ready  debater,  and  carried  great  weight,  both  in  ecclesiastical 
and  political  assemblies.  He  was  remarkable  for  his  wit,  and  often 
used  it  to  the  discomfiture  of  his  opponents.  He  was  through  life 
active  in  the  use  of  his  pen,  and  his  writings,  though  less  known  now 
than  formerly,  exerted  an  important  influence  upon  the  men  of  his 
generation. 

One  of  the  works  which  he  published  before  leaving  Scotland,  Eccle- 
siastical Characteristics,  created  a  decided  breeze.  It  was  written  to 
expose  the  character  of  what  was  known  as  the  Moderate  party  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  including  such  men  as  Blair,  Robertson,  Camp- 
bell, and  Gerard,  and  by  its  racy  wit  as  well  as  by  its  solid  argument 
gained  for  the  author  great  applause.  Under  the  form  of  a  defence 
of  the  worldly  spirit  and  practices  of  the  Moderates,  he  assailed  them 
with  a  merciless  irony  which  penetrated  between  the  very  joints  of 
the  harness.  It  was  a  species  of  attack  to  which  there  could  be  no 
reply,  and  from  which  there  was  no  escape. 

Francis  Hopkinson. 

Francis  Hopkinson,  1737-1791,  was  the  author  of  many  humorous 
pieces,  both  prose  and  verse,  which  did  good  service  to  the  popular 
cause.  Some  of  his  productions,  like  the  Battle  of  the  Kegs,  set  the 
whole  country  in  a  roar. 

Hugh  Henry  Braekenridge. 

Hugh  Henry  Braekenridge,  1748-1816,  was  one  of  the  ablest  hu- 
morists of  the  Kevolutionaxy  period.    liis  chief  work.  Modern  Chiv- 


THE    REVOLUTIOJ^^ARY    PERIOD.  231 

airy,  is  worthy  of  a  permanent  place  in  literature.  Its  satire  is  keen 
and  trenchant,  and  its  sketches  of  life  and  manners  in  Western  Penn- 
sylvania give  an  admirable  picture  of  society  in  that  region  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century. 

John  Trumbull. 

John  Trumbull,  LL.  D,,  1750-1831,  the  author  of  numerous  works, 
is  chiefly  known  by  his  poem  of  McFingal,  a  work  in  the  style  of 
Hudibras,  and  intended  to  hold  the  British  up  to  ridicule. 

Joel  Barlow. 

Joel  Barlow,  1755-1812,  gained  a  rather  unenviable  notoriety  by  his 
ambitious  attempt  at  a  great  American  epic.  The  Columbiad.  It  is 
composed  of  a  series  of  Visions,  in  which  Hesper,  the  genius  of  the 
western  continent,  reveals  to  Columbus  in  prison  the  future  history  of 
the  new  world.  Its  merits  were  so  far  short  of  its  pretensions  that  it 
only  provoked  ridicule. 

The  most  popular  of  Barlow's  works  was  a  poem,  called  Hasty 
Pudding,  containing  a  good  deal  of  genuine  humor. 

President  D-wight. 

Timothy  Dwight,  D.D.,  1752-1817,  President  of  Yale  College,  was 
almost  equally  distinguished  as  a  theologian  and  a  man  of  letters, 
while  for  skill  and  ability  in  the  administration  of  the  afiairs  of  the 
College,  he  is  justly  regarded  as  a  model  President. 

Dwight's  principal  work  is  his  Theology,  5  vols.,  8vo.  Among  his 
literary  labors  should  be  mentioned  his  revision  of  Watts's  Psalms. 
In  this  work,  he  added  translations  of  his  own,  of  such  Psalms  as 
Watts  had  not  attempted,  and  annexed  a  selection  of  Hymns.  The 
work  was  approved  and  adopted,  not  only  by  the  Association,  but  also 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Prasbyterian  Church.  Dwight's  ver- 
sion of  the  139th  Psalm,  beginning  with  the  words, 

I  love  thy  kingdom.  Lord, 

has  been  a  general  favorite. 

Fisher  Ames. 

Fisher  Ames,  1758-1808,  contributed  much,  by  his  writings  and 
speeches,  towards  the  consolidation  of  the  Government,  after  the  war 
of  Independence. 


232  AMERICAN    LITEKATURE. 

His  works  have  been  published  in  2  vols.,  8vo.  They  consist 
mainly  of  speeches  and  essays,  and  are  models  of  style. 

In  all  the  writings  of  this  period,  there  are  none  that  exceed  those 
of  Fisher  Ames  in  vigor  of  thought  and  expression.  He  was  remark- 
able for  the  aptness  of  his  classical  allusions  and  for  the  frequency 
and  beauty  of  his  comparisons.  These  are  so  numerous,  indeed,  that 
the  reader  would  weary  of  them  as  needless  ornament,  were  it  not  for 
the  intense  earnestness  that  everywhere  breathes  through  the  glowing 
periods. 

David  Ramsay. 

David  Eamsay,  M.  D.,  1749-1815,  was  the  earliest  American  histo- 
rian of  note.  His  chief  works  are  a  History  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  History  of  South  Carolina.  Dr.  Ramsay  did  not  rise  to  the 
dignity  of  a  classical  historian.  His  works  are  wanting  in  artistic 
treatment.  But  they  are  eminently  truthful  and  accurate,  and  they 
can  never  be  safely  ignored  by  those  who  wish  to  be  well  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  United  States.  He  had  the  advantage  of  liv- 
ing in  close  relationship  to  the  affairs  which  he  describes,  and  in 
many  of  them  he  was  an  eye-witness  and  an  actor ;  and  he  has  withal, 
like  John  Marshall,  that  character  for  entire  honesty  and  for  sobriety 
of  judgment,  which  makes  his  testimony,  and  in  most  cases  also  his 
opinions,  authoritative  and  final. 


CHAPTER  III. 

(1800-18S0.) 

The  famous  taunt  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  "  Who  reads  an 
American  book?"  had  its  sting  in  the  fact  that  in  those  days  there 
was  a  real  dearth  of  authorship  in  the  United  States. 

The  earlier  colonial  literature  was  already  among  the  things  of  the 
past.  The  literary  activity  of  the  Revolutionary  period  had  subsided 
with  the  subsidence  of  the  political  ferment  in  which  that  special 
activity  originated.  After  the  achievement  of  Independence  and  the 
establishment  of  a  national  Government,  the  American  people  were  too 
busy  in  the  work  of  material  progress,  to  give  much  attention  to  liter- 
ature and  science.  There  were,  indeed,  some  honorable  exceptions  to 
this  remark.  But  on  the  whole,  the  growth  of  the  nation  in  this 
direction  was  by  no  means  equal  to  its  progress  in  other  respects. 

Chapter  Third,  1800-1830,  represents  the  national  literature  in  its 
incipient,  formative  condition,  under  the  new  order  of  things,  and  is 
comparatively  weak  and  meagre. 

Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr. 

Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  1773-1811,  was  the  author  of  several  poems 
which  had  a  temporary  notoriety,  but  he  is  now  almost  exclusively 
known,  so  far  as  he  is  known  at  all,  by  a  patriotic  song,  called  Adams 
and  Liberty. 

Fessenden. 

Thomas  Green  Fessenden,  1771-1837,  gained  much  notoriety  as  a 
humorous  and  satirical  writer,  under  the  name  of  Christopher  Caustic. 
His  two  chief  poems  were  Terrible  Tractoration.  and  the  Country 
Lovers. 

20^  233        . 


234  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Joseph  Hopkinson. 

Joseph  Hopkinson,  LL.  D.,  1770-1842,  is  known  in  literature  by  a 
single  brief  production  only,  the  patriotic  song  of  Hail  Columbia. 

Francis  S.  Key. 

Francis  Scott  Key,  1779-1843,  is,  like  Hopkinson,  indebted  for  lit- 
erary celebrity  to  the  composition  of  a  single  patriotic  song,  The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner. 

Samuel  Woodworth. 

Samuel  Woodworth,  1785-1842,  a  poet  of  some  note,  is  the  author 
of  the  familiar  lyric,  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket. 

Joseph  Rodman  Drake. 

Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  1795-1820,  gave  promise  of  the  highest 
excellence  as  a  poet.  His  early  death  caused  profound  regret.  He  is 
chiefly  known  as  the  author  of  The  Culprit  Fay,  which  is  his  largest 
poem,  and  The  American  Flag,  which  is  the  most  popular. 

Charles  Broekden  Brown. 

Charles  Broekden  Brown,  1771-1810,  was  a  novelist  of  good  repute, 
and  was  the  first  American  of  any  considerable  note  who  made  litera- 
ture a  profession.  Two  of  his  novels,  Arthur  Mervyn  and  Edgar 
Huntley,  have  taken  a  place  in  Bentley's  Library  of  Standard  Ro- 
mance. 

William  Wirt. 

William  Wirt,  LL.D.,  1772-1834,  though  chiefly  distinguished  for 
his  legal  and  forensic  abilities,  has  an  honored  place  in  literature  by 
his  British  Spy  and  his  Life  of  Patrick  Henry. 

Wilson  the  Ornithologist. 

Alexander  Wilson,  1766-1813,  was  the  founder  of  American  Orni- 
thology, and  his  great  work  on  the  birds  of  the  United  States  was  not 
only  the  earliest,  but  in  some  respects  the  best  that  has  been  written 
on  that  subject.  The  work  was  printed  in  9  vols,  imperial  4to,  with 
plates  engraved  and  colored  from  original  drawings  taken  from  na- 
ture. The  title  was  American  Ornithology,  or  The  Natural  History 
of  the  Birds  of  the  United  States. 


FROM   1800  TO   1830.  235 

Like  every  great  ornithologist  worthy  of  the  name,  Wilson  was  a 
po3t  as  well  as  a  man  of  science.  He  had  an  eye  to  see  the  beauty  of 
the  bird's  life  as  well  as  of  his  plumage,  and  records  the  doings  and 
the  ways  of  his  little  friends  with  the  fondness  of  a  lover  and  the 
imagination  of  an  artist. 

Audubon. 

John  Jariies  Audubon,  1780-1851,  was  a  worthy  successor  of  Wilson, 
in  the  walk  of  Ornithology.  Audubon's  work,  The  Birds  of  America, 
equalled  Wilson's  in  the  poetical  beauty  of  the  descriptions,  and  sur- 
passed it  in  the  splendor  of  the  engraving  and  coloring. 

Audubon's  work  not  only  won  for  himself  universal  renown,  but 
gave  to  the  study  of  ornithology  a  new  impulse,  under  which  it  has 
since  made  prodigious  advances.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  most 
fascinating,  liis  pictures  of  the  birds,  which  were  manifestly  drawn 
with  a  loving  hand,  or  his  description  of  their  habits  and  of  his  soli- 
tary rambles  in  studying  them. 

The  subscription  price  of  the  work  was  $1000.  It  contained  448 
plates  of  birds  of  the  natural  size,  engraved  from  his  original  draw- 
ings, and  beautifully  colored.  The  engravings  filled  5  folio  volumes, 
and  the  descriptions  filled  5  volumes  more,  8vo. 

Audubon  published  also,  in  connection  with  his  sons.  Quadrupeds 
of  North  America,  in  3  vols.,  folio,  150  plates,  with  3  vols.,  8vo,  of 
descriptions. 

Noah  Webster. 

Noah  Webster,  LL.  D.,  1758-1843,  is  known  the  world  over  by  his 
Spelling-Book  and  his  American  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language. 

The  sale  of  Webster's  Spelling-Book,  notwithstanding  the  large 
number  of  competitors  now  in  the  market,  is  over  a  million  of  copies 
annually,  and  the  entire  sale  is  supposed  to  have  been  over  fifty  mil- 
lions. The  Dictionary,  as  finally  revised,  has  also  an  enormous  sale. 
It  is  published  in  a  great  variety  of  forms,  from  the  Imperial  Quarto, 
of  1840  pages,  down  to  the  small  Primary  and  Pocket  Dictionaries  of 
320  pages,  16mo. 

Chancellor  Kent. 

James  Kent,  LL.D.,  1763-1847,  the  distinguished  Chancellor  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  enriched  the  literature  of  his  profession  by 
his  Commentaries  upon  American  Law, —  a  Avork  commended  by  the 
excellence  of  its  style  as  well  as  by  its  legal  acumen,  and  received  as 
a  text-book  Wherever  the  subject  itself  is  a  matter  of  study. 


236  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Judge  Story. 

Joseph  Story,  1779-1845,  is  considered  as  ranking  next  to  Kent  as 
a  jurist.  His  great  \rork  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  con- 
tains, from  the  nature  of  its  subject,  much  that  is  not  strictly  profes- 
sional, and  that  brings  it  to  some  extent  within  the  range  of  general 
literature. 

Chief-Justice  Marshall. 

John  Marshall,  1755-1835,  long  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States, 
connected  himself  with  the  general  literature  of  the  country  by  his 
Life  of  Washington. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


(18SO-18SO.) 


The  period  included  in  the  present  chapter  was  one  of  great  and 
healthy  progress.  With  the  increase  of  material  wealth  came  a  cor- 
responding growth  in  the  department  of  letters.  The  number  of 
writers  was  greatly  multiplied,  and  literature  itself  began  to  take  rank 
as  a  regular  profession. 

The  writers  included  in  Chapter  IV.  are  divided  into  eight  sections : 
1.  The  Poets,  beginning  with  Poe;  2.  Writers  of  Novels,  Tales,  etc., 
beginning  with  Cooper ;  3.  Writers  of  History  and  Biography,  begin- 
ning with  Irving ;  4.  Writers  on  Literature  and  Criticism,  beginning 
with  Emerson ;  5.  Writers  on  Political  Affairs,  beginning  with  Alex- 
ander and  Edward  Everett;  6.  Scientific  Writers,  beginning  with 
Silliman ;  7.  Writers  on  Religion  and  Theology,  beginning  with 
Archibald  Alexander ;  8.  Miscellaneous  Writers,  beginning  with  Mrs. 
Sigourney. 

I.    THE  POETS. 

Poe. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe,  1811-1849,  was  endowed  with  poetical  gifts  of  the 
rarest  and  most  wonderful  kind.  Had  he  united  with  these  gifts  high 
moral  principle,  and  a  power  of  will  and  of  persistent  labor,  such  as 
marks  all  true  greatness,  he  might  have  made  for  himself  a  name  above 
that  of  any  yet  known  to  American  letters.  The  two  short  poems  by 
which  almost  exclusively  he  is  known,  The  Raven  and  The  Bells, 
although  not  of  the  highest  order  of  poetry,  and  only  hints  of  Avhat  the 
author  might  have  done,  are  yet  unique  and  unsurpassed  in  their  kind. 

Among  Poe's  prose  pieces  is  an  essay  on  The  Rationale  of  Verse, 

237 


238  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

that  deserves  particular  study.  One  of  the  curiosities  of  this  essay  is 
that  part  of  it  in  which  he  describes  minutely  the  process  of  his  own 
mind  in  the  creation  of  The  Kaven. 

Halleek. 

Fitz-Greene  Halleek,  1795-1867,  wrote  comparatively  little,  but  that 
little  is  of  such  extraordinary  excellence  as  to  have  made  it  a  matter 
of  general  regret  that  the  author  produced  no  more.  His  Marco  Boz- 
zaris  is  probably  the  best  war  lyric  in  the  language. 

Richard  Henry  Dana. 

Richard  Henry  Dana,  1787 ,  although  living  to  a  good  old  age, 

achieved  his  principal  distinction  in  letters  more  than  half  a  century 
ago.     His  chief  poem  is  The  Buccaneer. 

Pierpont. 

John  Pierpont,  1785-1866,  published  a  volume  of  sacred  verse, 
called  Airs  of  Palestine ;  also,  a  large  number  of  short  domestic  lyrica 
which  had  great  popularity.  One  of  these,  called  Passing  Away,  is 
familiar  to  most  readers. 

Pereival. 

James  Gates  Pereival,  1795-1856,  was  once  in  high  repute  as  a 
poet.  He  published  three  volumes,  under  the  title  of  Clio,  containing 
a  miscellany  of  prose  and  poetry. 

John  Ho^Ara^d  Payne. 

John  Howard  Payne,  1792-1852,  was  the  author  of  several  dra- 
matic works,  which  met  with  good  success,  but  is  chiefly  known  by  his 
song  of  Home,  Sweet  Home. 

Charles  Sprague. 

Charles  Sprague,  1791  ,  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  short 

poems  which  have  been  very  popular.  His  Shakespeare  Ode  is  the 
one  most  highly  prized,  but  none  is  so  often  quoted  as  The  Family 
Meeting. 

Mrs.  Osgood. 

Mrs.  Frances  Sargent  Osgood,  1812-1850,  holds  deservedly  a  high 
place  among  the  poetesses  of  America.    She  wrote  no  one  great  poem, 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  239 

but  she  was  for  nearly  twenty  years  an  industrious  contributor  to  cur- 
rent literature,  her  productions  steadily  improving  to  the  last.  Her 
collected  poems,  all  short,  fill  a  large  octavo,  and  are  a  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  literature  of  the  period  in  which  they  were  produced. 

Hannah  F.  Gould. 

Hannah  F.  Gould,  1789-1865,  wrote  many  charming  pieces  in 
verse,  which  were  general  favorites  with  the  public,  and  some  of 
which  will  probably  hold  a  permanent  place  in  literature.  She  ex- 
celled in  the  quiet  themes  of  home  life,  such  as  The  Snow-Flake,  and 
The  Frost. 

Mrs.  Shindler  (late  Mrs.  Dana). 

Mrs.  Mary  S.  B.  Shindler,  1810  ,  better  known  to  the  reading 

public  as  Mrs.  Dana,  is  the  author  of  numerous  Avorks,  both  prose  and 
verse,  chiefly  the  latter.  The  poems  by  which  she  first  gained  celeb- 
rity appeared  in  1840,  in  a  volume  called  The  Southern  Harp. 

II.     W^RITERS    OF    NOVELS,    TALES,    ETC. 

Cooper. 

James  Fenimore  Cooper,  1789-1851,  was  the  first  American  novel- 
ist that  gained  a  national  reputation.  He  was  also  the  first  American 
writer  that  obtained  general  recognition  in  Europe,  and  until  lately 
was  the  most  widely  known  abroad  of  all  Americans,  excepting  only 
Washington  and  Franklin.  His  tales  of  pioneer  life  threw  a  glamour 
over  the  American  landscape,  not  unlike,  and  hardly  inferior,  to  that 
which  Scott  had  thrown  over  Scotland.  His  sea  tales  are  still  un- 
equalled in  their  kind,  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Cooper's  strong  point  as  a  novelist  is  his  power  of  description.  His 
scenes  stand  before  the  eye  with  the  most  perfect  and  absolute  dis- 
tinctness. Another  feature,  equally  marked,  is  his  nationality  —  not 
so  much  the  nationality  of  feeling,  which  often  leads  its  possessor  into 
saying  what  is  absurd,  but  that  which  led  him  to  write  about  the 
scenes  and  things  that  he  was  familiar  with  and  had  seen  in  his  own 
land.  American  scenery,  manners,  customs,  and  ideas,  first  stood  forth 
in  distinct  relief  in  the  pages  of  Cooper.  He  was  equally  happy  in 
depicting  sea-life,  which  never  had  a  truer  or  more  vivid  painter  than 
in  the  author  of  The  Pilot. 

Cooper's  novels  number  not  less  than  thirty.  They  are  divisible 
mainly  into  two  classes,  one  consisting  of  sea-stories,  of  which  The 


240  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Pilot  and  The  Eed  Eover  are  the  most  notable  examples,  and  the  other 
descriptive  of  pioneer  life,  the  most  noted  of  them  being  The  Spy,  The 
Pioneer,  and  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans.  The  latter  class  is  sometimes 
called  the  Leather-Stocking  Tales,  from  the  hunter-hero  Leather-Stock- 
ing, who  appears  in  several  of  them. 

Besides  his  works  of  fiction,  Mr.  Cooper  wrote  A  History  of  the 
Navy  of  the  United  States,  2  vols.,  and  Lives  of  American  Naval  Offi- 
cers, 2  vols.  He  wrote  also  a  series  of  sketches  of  travel,  including 
works  on  England,  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  and  filling  10  vols. 
The  complete  edition  of  his  works  occupies  34  vols. 

Mr.  Cooper  appears  to  have  had  a  not  very  amiable  temper,  and  all 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  in  hot  water,  quarrelling  first  with  one 
set  of  people,  and  then  with  another.  His  writings,  too,  are  of  very 
unequal  merit.  It  would  be  difficult  to  name  an  author  of  such  very 
high  merit,  who  has  written  so  much  that  is  absolutely  worthless. 
Fully  one  half  of  what  he  wrote  was  a  dead  weight  and  a  drag  upon 
the  other  half.  With  all  these  drawbacks,  however,  he  was  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  original  writers  of  his  day,  and  he  divided  with 
Washington  Irving  the  general  recognition  which  was  awarded  them 
in  Europe. 

Miss  Sedgwick. 

Catherine  M.  Sedgwick,  1789-1867,  as  a  novelist,  holds  about  the 
same  rank  among  the  writers  of  her  own  sex  in  the  United  States  that 
Cooper  holds  among  the  writers  of  the  other  sex.  She  was  the  first  of 
her  class  whose  Avritings  became  generally  known,  and  the  eminence 
universally  conceded  to  her  on  account  of  priority  has  been  almost  as- 
generally  granted  on  other  grounds.  The  novels  by  which  she  is  best 
known  are  Hope  Leslie,  and  Redwood. 

Miss  Melntosli. 

Maria  J.  Mcintosh,  1803  ,  has  written  a  large  number  of  novels 

and  tales,  all  of  a  domestic  character,  and  all  excellent  in  tone  and 
spirit.  Those  which  have  shown  greatest  power,  and  met  with  the 
most  general  acceptance,  are  Conquest  and  Self-Conquest,  Charms  and 
Counter-Charms,  The  Lofty  and  The  Lowly,  and  Two  Lives,  or  To 
Seem  and  To  Be.  Miss  Mcintosh  worthily  takes  up  the  line  of  succes- 
sion after  Miss  Sedgwick. 

John  P.  Kennedy. 
John  Pendleton  Kennedy,  1795-1870,  comes  next  after  Cooper  and 
Miss  Sedgwick  in  the  list  of  American  novelists.     His  three  novels, 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  241 

Swallow  Barn,  Horse-Shoe  Eobinson,  knd  Kob  of  the  Bowl,  besides 
their  value  as  works  of  art,  are  all  careful  historical  studies,  giving  us 
admirable  pictures  of  life  in  the  Southern  States  in  the  earlier  days 
of  the  republic. 

James  K.  Paulding. 

James  Kirke  Paulding,  1778-1860,  was  distinguished  both  as  a  poli- 
tician and  a  man  of  letters.  He  held  various  political  offices,  the  high- 
est being  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  He  wrote  numerous  works, 
prose  and  verse,  humorous  and  serious.  The  best  known  are  John 
Bull  and  Brother  Jonathan,  The  Three  Wise  Men  of  Gotham,  and 
The  Dutchman's  Fireside. 

John  Sanderson. 

John  Sanderson,  1783-1844,  was  a  man  of  genial  temper  and  great 
kindness  of  heart,  and  a  genuine  humorist.  His  American  in  Paris, 
and  American  in  London,  have  seldom  been  excelled  for  brilliancy  of 
wit.  Besides  these  works,  he  edited  The  Biography  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  seven  volumes,  and  wrote  the 
first  two  volumes  of  the  collection. 

Joseph  C.  Neal. 

Joseph  C.  Neal,  1807-1847,  was,  like  Sanderson,  essentially  a  hu- 
morist. Mr.  Neal's  Charcoal  Sketches,  containing  amusing  pictures 
of  city  life,  were  in  their  time  as  original  and  as  racy  as  the  earlier 
papers  of  the  same  kind  by  Dickens.  Another  volume  of  like  char- 
acter, by  Mr.  Neal,  was  called  Peter  Ploddy  and  Other  Oddities. 

Mr.  Neal  died  in  early  manhood,  much  lamented  by  the  public,  with 
whom  he  was  fast  becoming  a  general  favorite. 

John  Neal. 

John  Neal,  1793 ,  is  at  this  time  tlie  Nestor  of  American  mag- 

azinists.  He  began  writing  early  in  life,  his  first  volume  having  ap- 
peared in  1817,  and  he  has  continued  almost  to  the  present  time  to 
exercise  his  gifts,  his  latest  volume  bearing  the  date  of  1870.  Mr.  Neal 
first  gained  cej^ebrity  in  1824,  by  a  series  of  brilliant  papers  in  Black- 
wood's Magazifle.  These  papers  were  chiefly  on  American  afiairs,  and 
were  written  in  England,  where  the  author  was  at  that  time  resident. 
21  Q 


242  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Charles  Fenno  Hoffman. 

Charles  Fenno  Hoffman,  1806 ,  held  in  the  last  generation  a 

conspicuous  place  in  general  literature.  He  founded  the  well-known 
Knickerbocker  Magazine,  and  published  several  volumes  both  of  prose 
and  verse,  and  was  one  of  the  notabilities  of  New  York  city,  social 
and  literary.  Since  1850,  mental  disorder  has  kept  him  in  complete 
retirement  from  the  world. 

N.  P.  Willis. 

Nathaniel  Parker  Willis,  1806-1867,  was  in  his  day  a  leader  among 
the  "  lesser  lights "  of  American  literature.  He  was  identified  with 
the  New  York  Mirror  and  the  Home  Journal,  at  that  time  the  two 
most  popular  of  our  literary  journals.  He  wrote  poetry  which  found 
its  way  into  most  common-school  Reading  Books,  and  into  all  young 
ladies'  albums.  He  wrote  volumes  of  prose,  filled  with  sketches  of 
scenery  and  snatches  of  social  gossip,  which  seemed  to  charm  every 
reader.  Partly  by  his  lively  manner,  partly  by  the  personality  of  his 
sketches,  partly  by  appealing  to  the  popular  taste  for  what  is  striking 
and  bizarre,  he  succeeded  in  making  himself  at  one  time  the  most 
widely  read  author  of  his  class  iai  America. 

The  best  known  of  his  poetical  works  are  his  Scriptural  Poems. 
The  principal  of  his  prose  works  are  Pencillings  by  the  Way,  Ink- 
lings by  the  Way,  People  I  have  Met,  Life  Here  and  There,  Hurry- 
graphs,  and  Famous  Persons  and  Places. 

George  P.    Morris. 

George  P.  Morris,  1802-1864,  was  intimately  associated,  in  fame  and 
fortunes,  with  Mr.  Willis.  They  were  jointly  concerned  in  the  New 
York  Mirror  and  the  Home  Journal,  and  as  such  were  for  a  time  the 
arbiters  of  taste  and  fashion  in  literary  matters.  Mr.  Morris  was 
chiefly  distinguished  as  a  song  writer.  Prominent  among  these  short 
lyrics  are  My  Mother's  Bible;  Woodman,  Spare  that  Tree;  Long 
Time  Ago ;  Near  the  Lake  where  Drooped  the  Willow. 

Miss  Leslie. 

Eliza  Leslie,  1787-1857,  was  the  sister  of  Leslie  thejp-tist,  and  was 
by  birth  and  social  position  brought  into  terms  of  intimacy  with 
Adams,  Jefferson,  and  the  other  men  of  note  who  lived  in  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century.  She  held  a  conspicuous  rank  as  a  writer, 
and  was  particularly  happy  as  a  satirist  of  social  affectations  and  of 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  243 

pretence  and  vulgarity  of  every  kind.  Her  story  of  Mrs.  "Washington 
Potts  is  worthy  of  Dickens. 

Mrs.  Kirkland. 

Mrs.  Caroline  M.  (Stansbury)  Kirkland,  1801-1864,  held  in  her  day 
a  high  place  among  the  writers  on  domestic  and  social  topics.  She 
was  a  shrewd  observer,  and  she  expressed  her  observations  with  sin- 
gular clearness  and  point.  Among  her  works  deserving  of  special' 
commendation  is  one  called  Fireside  Talks  on  Morals  and  Manners. 
She  also  wrote,  under  the  name  of  "  Mrs.  Mary  Clavers,"  several  works 
descriptive  of  pioneer  life  in  the  West,  in  which  she  gave  full  play  to 
the  sense  of  humor  with  which  she  was  largely  gifted. 

Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child. 

Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child,  1802  ,  has  been  for  nearly  fifty  years 

one  of  our  leading  literary  celebrities.  She  has  written  chiefly  on 
social  topics,  dividing  her  attention  between  the  instruction  of  the 
young  and  the  discussion  of  the  vexed  question  of  domestic  slavery. 

Mrs.  Emily  Judson  —  "  Fanny  Forrester." 

Mrs.  Emily  Judson,  1817-1854,  became  widely  known,  first  by  her 
contributions  to  polite  literature,  under  the  familiar  name  of  "  Fanny 
Forrester,"  and  then  by  her  self-denying  labors  as  the  wife  of  the  vet- 
eran missionary,  Adoniram  Judson.  Her  best  known  work  was  Alder- 
brook,  a  collection  of  sketches  and  poems. 

Mrs.  Alice  B.  Haven. 

Mrs.  Alice  B.  Haven,  1828-1863,  was  at  the  time  of  her  death  one 
of  the  most  promising  young  authors  in  the  field  of  American  letters. 
Several  of  her  small  volumes,  written  under  the  name  of  "  Cousin 
Alice,"  form  a  part  of  our  standard  literature  for  the  yoimg. 

Mrs.  Haven  had  a  fine  fancy,  a  delicate  perception  of  the  beautiful 
in  character  or  conduct,  and  a  rare  gift  for  embodying  her  conceptions 
in  attractive  form.  She  was  particularly  successful  as  a  writer  for  the 
young,  and  her  efforts  in  that  line,  under  the  name  of  "  Cousin  Alice," 
are  worthy  of  a  i)ermanent  place  in  literature. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  her  principal  works :  Helen  Morton  ;  No 
Such  Word  as  Fail ;  Patient  Waiting  No  Loss ;  Contentment  Better 
than  Wealth ;  All 's  Not  Gold  that  Glitters ;  The  Gossips  of  Kiver- 
town,  etc. 


244  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz,  1804-1856,  contributed  largely  by  her 
pen  to  the  amusement  and  instruction  of  the  last  generation.  The  two 
best  known  of  her  numerous  productions  were  The  Mob  Cap,  and  Aunt 
Patty's  Scrap  Bag. 


III.    HISTORY    AND     BIOGRAPHY. 

Washington  Irving. 

Washington  Irving,  LL.  D.,  1783-1859,  is  on  the  whole  the  bright- 
est and  the  dearest  name  in  the  annals  of  American  literature.  He 
is  almost  equally  known  as  an  historian,  and  as  a  writer  of  tales  and 
sketches,  and  in  both  departments  he  stands  clearly  in  the  first  class. 
His  most  important  historical  works  are  his  Life  of  Washington,  and 
his  Life  of  Columbus.  His  best  works  of  imagination  and  humor  are 
the  Sketch  Book,  Bracebridge  Hall,  Tales  of  a  Traveller,  and  Knick- 
erbocker's History  of  New  York.  A  uniform  edition  of  his  works 
has  been  published,  in  15  vols.,  to  which  should  be  added  A  Memoir 
of  Irving,  in  5  vols.,  by  his  nephew,  Pierre  Irving. 

Irving's  character  as  a  man  and  a  writer  is  too  well  known  to  call 
for  any  but  the  briefest  notice.  As  a  man  his  geniality  of  disposition 
has  become  proverbial.  Probably  no  other  American  ever  met  with 
such  a  hearty  welcome  abroad  from  men  of  all  classes  and  nationali- 
ties. During  the  twenty  odd  years  that  he  passed  in  Europe,  he  had 
for  his  warm  friends  such  men  as  Scott,  Moore,  Campbell,  Byron,  in 
fact,  nearly  all  the  leading  literary  characters  of  the  day.  In  his  own 
country  he  was  no  less  the  idol  of  his  times. 

As  a  writer,  he  may  be  safely  pronounced  to  be  the  most  popular 
of  all  American  authors.  His  works  are  known  and  read  by  every 
one.  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  Sleepy  Hollow,  Dolf  Heyliger,  Icha- 
bod  Crane,  Rip  Van  Winkle,  have  become  household  names  and 
forms.  No  other  creations  of  the  imagination  have  taken  such  promi- 
nence in  American  literature.  If  not  so  grand  or  so  subtle  as  Haw- 
thorne's, they  are  more  life-like,  more  genial,  more  generally  compre- 
hended. As  an  historian,  he  is  subject  to  one  grave  criticism.  He  is 
too  diffuse  in  his  treatment  of  the  subject,  and  his  style  is  at  times 
altogether  too  florid.  The  descriptions  of  scenery  and  incidents  are 
too  highly  colored  for  the  sober  pages  of  history.  Taken  all  in  all, 
however,  his  name  is  still,  as  already  said,  the  brightest  and  the  dear- 
est in  the  annals  of  American  literature. 


FROM   1830  TO  1850.  245 

Jared  Sparks. 

Jared  Sparks,  LL.D.,  1794-1866,  is  justly  considered  one  of  the 
most  eminent  contributors  to  American  history.  His  labors  were 
partly  editorial,  and  partly  those  of  original  authorship,  and  in  both 
respects  he  is  entitled  to  a  high  rank.  He  is  chiefly  known  by  his 
American  Biography,  and  his  editions  of  the  works  of  Washington 
and  Franklin. 

John  G.  Palfrey. 

John  Gorham  Palfrey,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1796 ,  is  the  author  of 

various  works,  chief  among  which  is,  A  History  of  New  England 
under  the  Stuart  Dynasty. 

William  L.  Stone. 

Col.  William  Leete  Stone,  1793-1844,  for  a  long  time  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  journalists  in  the  United  States,  made  several  valu- 
able contributions  to  the  colonial  history  of  New  York,  particularly 
that  relating  to  the  border  wars  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians. 
His  chief  works  in  this  line  were  a  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  a 
Life  of  Joseph  Brandt,  a  Life  of  Eed  Jacket,  and  the  Poetry  and 
History  of  Wyoming. 

Charles  J.  Ingersoll. 

Charles  Jared  Ingersoll,  1782-1862,  wrote  much  on  historical  and 
political  subjects,  his  chief  work  being  a  History  of  the  War  of  1812- 
15,  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  in  4  vols. 

Charles  E.  A.  Guyarre. 

Charles  E.  Arthur  Guyarre,  1805 ,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  New 

Orleans,  has  acquired  distinction  by  his  various  contributions  to  the 
history  of  Louisiana.  His  chief  works  are:  History  of  Louisiana 
(French  Domination),  2  vols.,  8vo;  History  of  Louisiana  (Spanish 
Domination),  1  vol.,  8vo ;  Komance  of  the  History  of  Louisiana. 

William  Allen. 

William  Allen,  D.  D.,  1784-1868,  President  of  Bowdoin  College,  is 
widely  known  to  the  reading  public  by  his  American  Biographical  and 
Historical  Dictionary,  the  first  work  of  the  kind  published  in  the 
United  States. 
21* 


246  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

IV.     ^ATRITERS   ON    LITERATURE  AND   CRITICISM. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  1803  -* — ,  is  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
literature  of  the  period  now  under  consideration. 

Mr.  Emerson  is  an  independent  thinker,  and  is  remarkable  equally 
for  the  originality  and  the  subtilty  of  his  thoughts,  and  for  his  power 
of  expression.  In  the  latter  respect  he  is  indeed  an  enigma.  Nobody 
can  express  himself  more  clearly  than  Mr.  Emerson,  when  he  chooses. 
But  when  he  does  not  choose,  nobody  can  more  successfully  hide  his 
meaning,  if  he  has  any,  under  a  show  of  plain  words  and  simple  con- 
structions. The  Sphinx  is  not  a  greater  mystery  than  are  some  of 
Mr.  Emerson's  delphic  sayings,  though  clothed  in  words  and  phrases 
as  plain  as  Blair's  Sermons,  or  Murray's  English  Grammar. 

Mr.  Emerson  is  a  transcendentalist  of  the  most  advanced  school ;  and 
his  views  on  the  higher  subjects  of  mind  and  spirit  are  so  far  removed 
from  the  common  apprehension,  tliat  it  is  not  easy  to  formulate  them, 
or  to  say  precisely  what  he  does  think  and  teach. 

As  an  essayist  and  a  lecturer  on  more  familiar  subjects,  he  is  singu- 
larly attractive.  His  method  is,  not  to  reason,  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term,  but  to  utter  truth  oracularly,  leaving  it  to  make  its  own 
appeal  to  the  intuitions  of  the  reader  or  hearer. 

A  uniform  edition  of  his  works  has  been  printed  in  6  vols.,  as  fol- 
lows :  Essays,  2  vols. ;  Representative  Men,  1  vol. ;  English  Traits,  1 
vol. ;  Lectures  and  Addresses,  1  vol. ;  Poems,  1  vol. 

The  volumes  of  Essays  and  of  Lectures  are  exceedingly  various  in 
style  and  subject,  but  contain  in  fragmentary  form  all  those  peculiari- 
ties of  his  style,  as  a  thinker  and  a  writer,  which  have  given  him  such 
a  wide  celebrity.  The  same  is  true  to  a  certain  extent  of  his  Poems. 
Some  of  these  have,  in  form  and  finish,  all  the  brilliance  and  the  ex- 
actness of  the  diamond  —  hard,  bright,  and  cutting.  It  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  find,  outside  of  the  Greek  Anthology,  anything  more  abso- 
lutely faultless  than  some  of  these  little  gems.  Others  again  belong 
to  the  order  of  the  Sphinx,  and  may  be  safely  commended  to  those 
who  are  fond  of  riddles.  The  most  important  volume  in  the  series  is 
that  which  contains  Representative  Men.  In  this,  under  six  great 
heads,  Mr.  Emer.-on,  more  nearly  than  in  any  of  his  other  works, 
gives  expression  to  his  system  as  a  whole.  The  topics  are:  1.  Plato, 
the  Philosopher ;  2.  Swedenborg,  the  Mystic ;  3.  Montaigne,  the  Skep- 
tic ;  4.  Shakespeare,  the  Poet ;  5,  Napoleon,  the  Man  of  the  World ; 
6.  Goethe,  the  Writer.    The  mental  portraits  sketched  undt  •  these 


FROM   1830   TO   1850.  247 

six  heads  give  us  Mr.  Emerson  himself,  so  far  as  he  is  capable  of  being 
formulated  at  all. 

Margaret  Fuller,  Marchioness  D'Ossoli. 

Sarah  Margaret  Fuller,  Marchioness  B'Ossoli,  1810-1850,  is  asso- 
ciated, in  history  and  in  her  modes  of  thinking  and  writing,  with  her 
friend  and  biographer,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  Her  writings  were 
chiefly  critical,  her  Papers  on  Literature  and  Art  being  her  best  vol- 
ume. She  was  while  living  noted  also  for  her  conversational  power, 
in  which  particular  she  is  thought  to  have  been  fully  equal  to  the 
celebrated  Madame  de  Stael. 

While  on  a  visit  to  Rome,  she  was  married  to  Giovanni,  Marquis 
D'Ossoli.  She  and  her  husband  and  their  only  child  perished  in  a 
shipwreck  off  the  American  coast,  in  July,  1850. 

Horace  Binney  Wallace. 

Horace  Binney  Wallace,  1817-1852,  was  a  man  of  remarkable  abili- 
ties and  character.  His  posthumous  volumes  on  Art  and  Scenery  in 
Europe,  and  Literary  Criticisms  and  Other  Papers,  though  fragmen- 
tary and  incomplete,  give  on  every  page  evidence  of  the  very  highest 
abilities  as  a  literary  and  art  critic.  His  early  death  occasioned  pro- 
found regret. 

''  Henry  Reed. 

Henry  Reed,  LL.  D.,  1808-1854,  grandson  of  General  Joseph  Reed 
of  Revolutionary  memory,  and  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English 
Literature  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  is  widely  and  most  fa- 
vorably known  by  his  Lectures  on  English  Literature  and  other  works 
of  a  like  character. 

Verplanck. 

Gulian  Crommelin  Verplanck,  LL.D.,  1787-1870,  was  the  first 
American  who  distinguished  himself  in  the  difficult  walk  of  Shake- 
spearian criticism.  His  edition  of  Shakespeare  s  Plays,  with  a  Life 
and  Critical  Notes,  was  an  honor  to  American  scholarship,  and  was 
the  best  American  edition  of  Shakespeare  prior  to  that  of  Richard 
Grant  White. 

Rufus  W.  Griswol'd. 

Rufus  Wilmot  Griswold,  D.D.,  1815-1857,  without  liaving  much 
native  talent,  with  little  scholarship,  and  with  less  either  of  taste  or 


248  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

judgment  in  literary  matters,  yet  by  persevering  industry  and  by  skill 
in  availing  himself  of  the  help  of  others,  not  only  gained  distinction 
for  himself,  but  did  important  service  in  the  cause  of  American  letters. 
His  chief  works,  The  Female  Poets  of  America,  The  Prose  Writers 
of  America,  and  The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  America,  are  valuable  and 
permanent  contributions  to  our  literature. 

V.     POLITICAL  WRITERS.  "       - 

Alexander  H.  Everett. 

Alexander  Hill  Everett,  1790-1847,  was  a  man  of  letters  as  well  as 
a  statesman,  and  did  much  by  his  writings  to  give  shape  to  the  national 
policy.  His  writings  did  much  also  towards  vindicating  American 
statesmanship  before  the  bar  of  European  opinion.  His  two  largest 
works,  one  on  the  State  of  Europe,  and  one  on  the  State  of  Amer- 
ica, challenged  and  gained  general  and  respectful  attention.  His  nu- 
merous contributions  to  the  North  American  Review  also  formed  a 
valuable  body  of  political  criticism  and  debate. 

Edward  Everett. 

Edward  Everett,  D.  C.  L.,  1794-1865,  in  addition  to  the  many  and 
varied  gifts  of  his  brother  Alexander,  as  a  writer  and  a  negotiator  of 
affiiirs  of  state,  had  the  rare  qualities  of  a  consummate  orator.  He 
had  from  boyhood  a  natural  gift  for  eloquence,  and  he  cultivated  the 
art  to  the  highest  point  that  the  most  assiduous  study  and  practice 
could  enable  him  to  reach.  His  writings  are  numerous  and  varied, 
but  his  fame  rests  chiefly  on  his  Orations.  These  have  been  published 
in  four  large  volumes,  and  are  an  enduring  monument  of  his  genius. 

Daniel  V/ebster. 

Daniel  Webster,  1782-1852,  was  not  merelya  great  lawyer  and  a 
great  statesman ;  he  was  also  a  great  master  of  sound  English,  and  as 
.Huch  is  entitled  to  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  literary  records  of  his 
country. 

His  works  have  been  published  in  6  vols.,  8vo,  consisting  of  Speeches, 
Forensic  Arguments,  and  Diplomatic  Papers. 

Brilliant  as  Webster's  Congressional  speeches  are,  they  do  not  fully 
equal  his  set  orations.  Three  of  these  —  the  Plymouth  Rock  dis- 
course, the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  discourse,  and  the  Eulogy  on 
Adams  and  Jefferson  —  are  among  tlie  very  choicest  masterpieces  of 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  249 

all  ages  and  all  tongues.  Nothing  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece  or 
Rome,  or  England  or  France,  has  ever  surpassed  these  orations  in  unity 
and  harmony  of  structure,  or  in  simple  but  majestic  diction.  The 
genius  of  Webster  here  reveals  itself,  unfettered  by  the  needs  of  party 
and  untainted  by  the  heat  of  debate,  in  all  its  depth,  its  sweetness, 
and  its  originality.  We  cannot  analyze  these  orations.  Each  seems 
to  pour  itself  forth  as  the  single,  spontaneous  utterance  of  a  great  crea- 
tive mind.  It  is  the  voice  of  a  man  who  has  something  grand  to  say 
to  his  fellow-men.  To  the  student,  these  orations,  and  indeed  all 
Webster's  speeches,  may  be  recommended  as  models  of  style  to  be 
carefully  considered. 

John  Quincy  Adams. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  1767-1848,  son  of  John  Adams,  and  sixth 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  a  man  of  varied  learning,  and  his 
writings,  both  literary  and  political,  are  numerous. 

Mr.  Adams  published  during  his  life  several  volumes,  among  which 
may  be  named  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Oratory ;  The  Bible  and  its 
Teachings,  a  series  of  letters  to  his  son ;  Poems  of  Religion  and  So- 
ciety ;  and  Letters  on  Freemasonry.  A  collective  edition  of  his  works, 
by  his  son  Charles  Francis  Adams,  has  been  promised. 

Benton. 

Thomas  Hart  Benton,  1782-1858,  for  thirty  years  a  representative 
of  Missouri  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  was  one  of  the  most 
eminent  of  political  writers,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  American  statesmen.  Besides  his  Speeches  he  published  two  works 
of  great  political  and  literary  value,  namely,  his  Thirty  Years'  View, 
and  his  Abridgment  of  the  Debates  of  Congress. 

Clay. 

Henry  Clay,  1777-1852,  acquired  special  distinction  as  an  orator. 
His  Speeches  have  been  published  in  2  vols.,  8vo.  Though  valuable 
merely  as  literary  efforts,  they  give  little  idea  of  his  wonderful  powers, 
his  eloquence,  much  more  than  that  of  his  great  political  compeers, 
depending  upon  the  matchless  graces  of  his  delivery. 

Calhoun. 

John  Caldwell  Calhoun,  1782-1850,  was  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished political  writers  and  thinkers  of  his  generation.    However 


250  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

much  his  compeers  may  have  differed  from  him  in  views,  there  was 
among  them  but  one  opinion  in  regard  to  his  transcendent  abilities. 
His  Works,  consisting  mainly  of  speeches,  have  been  published  in  6 
vols.,  8vo,  and  form  a  compact  and  coherent  system  of  political  opinion. 

Hugh  S.  Legard. 

Hugh  Swinton  Legare,  1797-1843,  was  almost  equally  distinguished 
as  a  jurist,  and  as  a  man  of  letters,  and  in  both  respects  he  was  held  in 
great  estimation.  His  works  have  been  published  in  2  vols.,  Svo. 
They  comprise  speeches  and  papers  on  political,  literary,  and  histori- 
cal subjects,  and  show  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  high  culture  and  of 
a  most  genial  temper. 

Rufus  Choate. 

Kufus  Choate,  LL.  D.,  1799-1859,  was  a  man  of  commanding  abili- 
ties at  the  bar  and  in  the  Senate,  and  hardly  less  distinguished  in 
letters.  His  contributions  to  literature  are  not  numerous,  but  they 
are  of  a  character  to  leave  a  permanent  impress  of  the  man  upon  his 
age.  They  have  been  published,  with  a  memoir  of  his  life,  in  2  vols., 
Svo,  and  consist  of  Lectures,  Addresses,  and  Speeches.  Of  his  great 
forensic  arguments,  no  adequate  report  remains. 

Henry  Wheaton. 

Henry  Wheaton,  1785-1848,  was  the  first  American  writer  who  at- 
tained special  eminence  in  the  department  of  international  law.  His 
Elements  of  International  Law  has  become  a  classic  on  that  subject. 

Francis  Lieber. 

Francis  Lieber,  LL.D.,  1800-1872,  Professor  of  History  and  Polit- 
ical Science  in  Columbia  College,  was  the  author  of  a  large  number  of 
works,  but  is  best  known  by  his  Manual  of  Political  Ethics,  and  his 
work  on  Civil  Liberty. 

These  works  have  earned  for  their  autlior  a  high  reputation  as  a 
clear  writer  and  a  sound  thinker  upon  the  fundamental  principles  of 
law  and  government.  They  have  been  made  text-books  in  many  col- 
leges and  academies  of  the  United  States,  and  are  cited  with  approval 
by  our  most  eminent  legal  tribunals  and  jurists. 


FROM   1830  TO  1850.  251 

VI.  SCIENTIFIC  WRITERS. 

Benjamin  Silliman. 

Benjamin  Silliman,  LL.D.,  1779-1864,  "The  Nestor  of  American 
Science"  {Edward  Everett),  is  universally  known  by  his  works  on 
Chemistry  and  as  the  founder  of  Silliman's  Journal  of  Science  and 
Art.  His  Life  and  Correspondence,  by  Professor  Fisher,  2  vols.,  8vo, 
consists  to  a  great  extent  of  Professor  Silliman's  own  writings,  and  is 
a  charming  work. 

Denison  Olmsted. 

Denison  Olmsted,  1791-1859,  long  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy 
in  Yale  College,  was  the  author  of  several  popular  text-books  con- 
nected with  his  department  of  science.  These  are :  A  Compendium 
of  Natural  Philosophy ;  An  Introduction  to  Natural  Philosophy ;  An 
Introduction  to  Astronomy ;  A  Compend  of  Astronomy ;  and  Rudi- 
ments of  Natural  Philosophy. 

Joseph  Henry. 

Joseph  Henry,  LL.  D.,  1797  ,  is  known  almost  exclusively  as 

a  scientist.  His  series  of  annual  reports  as  Secretary  of  the  Smithso- 
nian Institution,  however,  partake  to  some  extent  of  a  popular  char- 
acter, and  give  him  a  place  in  the  field  of  letters,  though  by  no  means 
commensurate  with  his  position  as  a  man  of  science. 

Alexander  D.  Baehe. 

Alexander  Dallas  Baclie,  LL.D.,  180G-1867,  a  distinguished  philos- 
opher, and  a  great-grandson  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  achieved  the 
crowning  glory  of  his  life  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  work  of 
the  United  States  Coast  Survey.  Apart  from  that,  however,  his  suc- 
cess in  other  departments  of  science  and  letters  would  have  given  him 
a  lasting  place  in  the  national  history.  His  chief  publication  of  a 
general  character  was  a  volume  on  the  European  System  of  Educa- 
tion, being  a  report  to  the  directors  of  Girard  College. 

Robley  Dunglison. 

Robley  Dunglison,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  1798-1869,  was  for  almost  half  a 
century  one  of  the  great  ornaments  of  the  medical  profession  in 
America.    His  chief  publications,  A  Medical  Dictionary,  and  Human 


252  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Physiology,  though  intended  mainly  for  the  medical  profession,  are 
not  without  interest  to  the  general  reader. 

Prof.  Hitchcock. 

Edward  Hitchcock,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1793-1864,  distinguished  him- 
self especially  in  the  department  of  Geology.  His  various  works  on 
that  subject  have  been  valuable,  not  only  as  text-books  for  schools 
and  colleges,  but  in  vindicating  the  consistency  of  geology  with  reli- 
gion. His  principal  works  of  this  kind  are  Elementary  Geology; 
Religion  of  Geology  and  its  Connected  Science ;  and  Religious  Truth 
illustrated  from  Science. 

Dr.  Kane. 

Elisha  Kent  Kane,  M.  D.,  1820-1857,  made  himself  known  through- 
out the  civilized  world  by  his  Arctic  explorations  and  his  heroic  at- 
tempts to  discover  tlie  fate  of  Sir  John  Franklin.  His  works,  de- 
scribing these  explorations  of  the  north  polar  regions,  are  at  the  same 
time  valuable  as  contributions  to  science,  and  brilliant  as  specimens 
of  English  composition. 

Dr.  Kane's  merits,  not  merely  as  a  naturalist  and  a  daring  explorer, 
but  as  a  writer,  are  conspicuous  in  his  works,  especially  in  his  account 
of  the  second  expedition.  The  narrative  of  the  dangers  and  suffer- 
ings of  the  party  is  given  with  a  simplicity  and  vividness  that  place 
the  work  in  the  foremost  rank  of  descriptive  writings. 

Joseph  E.  Worcester. 

Joseph  E.  Worcester,  LL.  D.,  1784-1865,  contested  with  Noah  Web- 
ster the  palm  for  lexicography.  Worcester's  English  Dictionary  is 
certainly  one  of  the  best  that  has  ever  been  written,  and  by  a  large 
portion  of  the  soundest  American  scholars  is  accepted  as  the  best 
standard  of  the  English  language. 

Dr.  Worcester's  work  is  published  in  six  different  forms,  from  the 
small  Primary  up  to  the  Royal  Quarto.  There  is  also  a  Series  of 
Spellers,  prepared  by  Dr.  Worcester,  on  the  same  principles  as  the 
Dictionary. 

Dr.  Worcester's  work  is  the  fruit  of  long  years  of  unremitted  and 
conscientious  labor,  and  is  in  the  highest  degree  creditable  to  his  schol- 
arship and  his  critical  sagacity. 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  253 

Prof.   Marsh. 

George  P.  Marsh,  LL.  D.,  1801 ,  has  bestowed  much  labor  upon 

the  study  of  English  philology.  His  Lectures  on  the  English  Lan- 
guage, and  Lectures  on  Early  English  Literature,  are  standard  works 
on  that  subject. 

Charles  Anthon. 

Charles  Anthon,  LL.  D.,  1797-1867,  is  known  almost  exclusively 
by  his  series  of  Greek  and  Latin  text-books.'  He  stands  in  this  line 
at  the  head  of  American  scholars.  Dr.  Anthon  never  travelled  into 
any  of  the  walks  of  authorship  outside  of  his  own  chosen  path  as  a 
writer  and  commentator  in  aid  of  classical  scholarship.  But  in  that 
walk  he  has  won  for  himself  a  distinguished  and  honorable  name. 

Dr.  James  Rush. 

James  Rush,  M.  D.,  1786-1839,  is  widely  known  by  his  work  on 
The  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Voice.  This  is  considered  by  compe- 
tent critics  to  be  not  only  a  standard  work  but  thoroughly  exhaustive 
of  the  subject.  It  has  been  made  the  basis  for  a  large  number  of 
popular  and  school  treatises. 

VII.    THEOLOGICAL  WRITERS. 

Archibald  Alexander. 

Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  1772-1851,  holds  a  position  altogether 
unique  among  American  Presbyterians.  He  may  not  have  been  their 
greatest  theologian,  as  he  certainly  was  not  their  greatest  writer :  yet, 
by  the  peculiarities  both  of  his  position  and  of  his  personal  character, 
he  wielded  an  influence  altogether  unprecedented  in  this  branch  of 
the  American  Church. 

Dr.  Alexander  was  a  man  of  wonderful  power  as  a  preacher.  In 
this  respect  he  probably  has  never  been  excelled  by  any  American 
divine.  As  the  leading  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  during  the  formative  period  of 
that  great  religious  denomination  of  which  the  Seminary  was  the 
acknowledged  centre  and  representative,  he  did  more  probably  than 
any  other  one  man  towards  giving  tone  and  shape  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  chief  characteristics  of  Dr.  Alexander's  style  are  simplicity 
and  clearness.  He  had  pondered  the  great  themes  upon  which  he 
22 


254  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

wrote  until  their  truths  had  become  axiomatic  to  himself,  and  he  un- 
consciously communicated  something  of  the  same  character  to  his 
expression  of  them.  He  was  remarkable  also  for  his  pure,  idiomatic 
English.  In  his  extempore  addresses  from  the  pulpit,  Dr.  Alexander 
was  often  highly  imaginative.  But  little  of  this  quality  appears  in 
any  of  his  written  discourses. 

Of  all  Dr.  Alexander's  writings,  the  ones  which  have  made  the  deep- 
est impression  on  the  public  mind  are  those  on  the  Evidences,  the 
Canon,  and  Eeligious  Experience.  His  maturest  work  is  the  small 
volume  on  Moral  Science.  It  is  of  this  that  the  Westminster  Review, 
no  friendly  witness,  says :  "  It  is  a  calm,  clear  stream  of  abstract  rea- 
soning, flowing  from  a  thoughtful,  well-instructed  mind,  without  any 
parade  of  logic,  but  with  an  intuitive  simplicity  and  directness  which 
give  it  an  almost  axiomatic  force." 

James  Alexander. 

James  Waddell  Alexander,  D.  D.,  1804-1859,  eldest  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding, is  widely  known  as  an  accomplished  scholar  and  graceful  writer, 
and  as  the  author  of  a  large  number  of  works  on  religion  and  morals. 

He  was  the  author  of  more  than  thirty  juvenile  works,  written 
mostly  for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  Among  these  may 
be  named  Infant  Library,  Frank  Harper,  Carl  the  Young  Emigrant, 
Only  Son.  Some  of  his  other  publications  are  Thoughts  on  Family 
Worship,  and  Plain  Words  to  a  Young  Communicant.  He  prepared 
also  a  Biography  of  his  father.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  a  large  8vo, 
of  700  pages.  Many  of  his  writings  were  aimed  particularly  at  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  workingmen.  One  of  these,  the 
American  Mechanic  and  Workingman,  is  held  in  high  estimation. 
Another  deservedly  popular  book  of  somewhat  the  same  cast  is  called 
Good,  Better,  Best. 

Dr.  Alexander  was  pre-eminently  a  scholarly  man  in  his  tastes  and 
habits,  being  profoundly  versed  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  in 
three  or  four  modern  languages ;  yet  in  his  books  for  popular  reading 
there  is  not  the  slightest  hint  of  all  this  varied  learning.  His  English 
is  as  pure  and  limpid  as  if  he  had  never  known  any  language  but  his 
own. 

Addison  Alexander. 

Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  D.  D.,  1809-1860,  is  on  the  whole  the 
greatest  of  the  remarkable  family  to  which  he  belongs.  His  special 
department  was  that  of  Oriental  literature.  But  he  was  great  in  almost 
every  department  of  letters,  and  his  contributions  to  English  literature 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  255 

alone  would  entitle  him  to  prominent  rank,  had  he  no  other  claim  to 
greatness. 

He  was  Adjunct  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in  Princeton  Col- 
lege from  1830  to  1833,  and  a  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
from  1838  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Of  a  man  gifted  with  such  a  rare  combination  of  great  qualities,  it 
is  not  easy  to  say  which  was  the  greatest.  It  was  as  a  linguist,  however, 
that  he  is  generally  considered  as  most  distinguished.  He  was  a 
perfect  master  of  seven  languages,  English,  Latin,  German,  French, 
Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese,  all  of  which  he  knew  not  only  philo- 
logically,  but  linguistically  —  reading,  writing,  and  speaking  them 
with  ease  and  fluency.  He  knew  profoundly,  as  a  philologist,  six 
others,  Arabic,  Hebrew,  Clialdee,  Persian,  Greek,  and  Komaic,  all  of 
which  he  read  and  wrote  fluently,  without  help,  but  did  not  speak,  at 
least  not  familiarly.  He  was  at  home  with  eight  others,  Dutch,  Danish, 
Flemish,  Norwegian,  Sanscrit,  Ethiopic,  Syriac,  and  Coptic,  reading 
them  without  a  Lexicon,  but  not  writing  or  speaking  them.  He  read 
with  a  Lexicon  four  others,  Polish,  Swedish,  Malay,  and  Chinese.  In 
all,  twenty-five  diflferent  languages.  He  was  unquestionably  the 
greatest  Oriental  scholar  that  .\merica  has  ever  produced. 

As  his  greatest  attainments  were  in  the  line  of  languages,  so  his 
most  important  works  are  his  Commentaries.  These  are  the  following : 
On  Psalms,  2  vols. ;  Isaiah,  2  vols. ;  Matthew,  1  vol. ;  Mark,  1  vol. ; 
Acts,  2  vols.  Next  to  his  commentaries,  are  his  Sermons,  2  vols.,  and 
New  Testament  Literature,  and  Ecclesiastical  History,  1  vol. 

His  articles  in  the  Princeton  Review,  however,  give  the  best  idea  of 
the  wonderful  variety  and  depth  of  his  attainments,  as  well  as  of  the 
versatility  of  his  genius.  He  was  a  signal  proof  that  the  study  of  lan- 
guages, even  when  pushed  to  their  most  abstruse  points,  does  not  ne- 
cessarily make  one  dry  and  dull .  The  United  States  probably  never 
produced  a  scholar  of  more  secluded  and  solitary  habits.  Yet  his 
writings  and  his  pulpit  discourses  were  as  simple  and  perspicuous  as  if 
he  had  been  a  mere  English  scholar.  His  sentences  are  as  limpid  in 
their  flow,  and  glide  as  gently  and  smoothly  into  tlie  reader's  under- 
standing, as  those  of  the  Joseph  Addison  after  whom  he  was  named. 
This  wonderful  simplicity,  both  of  his  thoughts  and  his  language, 
combined  often  with  a  fervid  eloquence,  and  always  with  profound  and 
comprehensive  views,  made  his  pulpit  performances  exceedingly  at- 
tractive. He  had,  too,  a  warm  and  vigorous  imagination,  to  which  in 
his  sermons  he  sometimes  gives  the  rein  with  startling  eflfect.  His 
style  is  always  rhythmical,  showing  that  he  had  a  natural  ear  for  verse, 
and  he  has  given  some  specimens  of  poetry  of  a  high  order. 


256  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Among  his  other  traits  was  a  strong  love  of  fun,  and  he  often  amused 
himself,  by  way  of  relaxation  from  his  profounder  studies,  by  writing 
humorous  pieces  for  the  young  children  of  his  acquaintance.  At  other 
times  he  amused  himself  by  describing  some  familiar  event,  in  lan- 
guage utterly  unintelligible,  although  every  word  was  taken  from 
Webster's  quarto  dictionary.  Another  of  his  amusements  was  to  write 
sonorous  periods,  faultless  in  diction  and  grammar,  and  apparently 
very  profound,  Avhich  however,  on  examination,  were  found  to  be  en- 
tirely devoid  of  meaning.  Indeed  his  love  of  poking  good-natured  fun 
at  men  and  things  was  one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  might  have  become  famous  as  a  humorist, 
had  he  not  been  drawn  to  higher  things. 

Samuel  Miller. 

Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  1769-1850,  is  associated  in  the  minds  of  all 
Presbyterians  with  his  friend  and  colleague.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander. 
Besides  his  great  work,  in  giving  shape  and  tone  at  its  most  critical 
period  to  theological  education  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Amer- 
ica, Dr.  Miller  contributed  largely  to  the  theological  and  religious 
literature  of  his  church.  His  works  are  numerous  and  valuable,  and  are 
accepted  as  standards  among  most  Presbyterians.  The  following  are 
the  chief:  Presbyterianism  the  Truly  Primitive  and  Apostolic  Consti- 
tution of  the  Church  of  Christ ;  Letters  on  Church  Government ;  Office 
of  Puling  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church;  Letters  on  Clerical 
Habits  and  Manners.  The  work  last  named  criticised  with  singular 
keenness  some  of  the  bad  professional  habits  into  which  young  minis- 
ters are  apt  to  fall.  The  work  was  not  uncalled  for,  and  it  had  a 
marked  and  happy  effect.  An  admirable  Life  of  Dr.  Miller,  in  2  vols., 
8vo,  has  been  published  by  his  son,  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D. 

Albert  Barnes. 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  1798-1870,  is  chiefly  known  by  his  Commen- 
taries on  the  Scriptures.  These  Commentaries  have  been  the  most 
popular  probably  that  have  ever  been  published.  "Barnes's  Notes" 
is  a  household  word  wherever,  in  Protestant  Christendom,  the  English 
language  is  spoken.  The  number  of  volumes  of  the  series  issued  be- 
fore his  death  was  over  a  million. 

Robert  J.  Breckinridge. 

Robert  Jefferson  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1800-1871,  was  a  Pres- 
byterian divine  of  great  eminence  as  a  writer,  and  still  more  as  a 


FEOM   1830  TO   1850.  257 

leader.  His  chief  work  is  a  system  of  theology,  under  the  title  of  The 
Knowledge  of  God,  Objectively  and  Subjectively  Considered.  He  was 
one  of  the  acknowledged  leaders  in  the  great  disruption  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  which  took  place  in  1837. 

Samuel  H.  Cox. 

Samuel  Hanson  Cox,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1793  ,  is  one  of  the  nota- 
bilities of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  although  his  published  works  are 
not  numerous.  His  principal  volumes  are  Interviews  Memorable 
and  Useful,  Theopneuston,  and  Quakerism  not  Christianity. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  Dr.  Cox's  style,  especially  in  his  pulpit 
performance,  is  his  fondness  for  "dictionary  words."  No  living 
preacher  probably  uses,  in  his  common  speech,  so  large  a  percentage 
of  words  of  Latin  origin.  He  has  been  known,  even  in  his  prayers,  to 
quote  whole  sentences  from  the  Latin.  With  all  his  peculiarities, 
however,  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker,  he  has  ever  been  held  to  be  a 
man  of  great  and  original  force,  and  he  has  filled  a  large  place  in  the 
public  mind. 

Dr.  Thornwell. 

James  H.  Thornwell,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  1811-1862,  has  written  largely 
on  the  subject  of  Systematic  Theology,  and  he  is  accounted  by  general 
consent  one  of  the  ablest  qf  recent  Presbyterian  theologians.  His 
Theological  Works  fill  six  large  volumes. 

Dr.  Sprague. 

William  B.  Sprague,  D.D.,  1795  ,  has  been  one  of  the  most 

prolific  writers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  His  Annals  of  the 
American  Pulpit  especially  is  a  monument  of  industry  and  research. 
It  fills  10  vols.,  large  8vo. 

Joel  Jones. 

Joel  Jones,  LL.D.,  1795-1860,  was  i\n  eminent  jurist  of  Philadel- 
phia, but  studied  and  wrote  much  on  theological  subjects.  Hia  chief 
work  was  a  large  octavo  volume,  called  Jesus  and  the  Coming  Glory, 
in  which  he  advocated  the  doctrines  of  the  Second  Adventists. 

Lyman  Beeeher. 

Lyman  Belcher,  D.  D.,  1775-1863,  during  his  long  public  career, 
exerted  a  commanding  influence  in  the  church  and  in  society.     He 
22*  R 


258  AMEEICAN    LITEEATURE. 

was  equally  celebrated  as  a  preacher  and  as  a  writer.  His  writings 
are  not  numerous,  as  compared  with  those  of  his  still  more  illustrious 
descendants,  but  are  marked  by  great  boldness,  vigor,  and  clearness, 
both  of  thought  and  expression,  with  occasional  outbursts  of  passioQ- 
ate  eloquence.  His  chief  publications  are :  Sermons  on  Temperance ; 
Views  in  Theology ;  Scepticism ;  Political  Atheism ;  Plea  for  the 
West. 

Moses  Stuart. 

Moses  Stuart,  1780-1852,  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  biblical 
scholars  that  America  has  produced,  and  was  the  first  that  acquired 
special  distinction  in  this  department.  His  publications  are  both 
numerous  and  varied,  beginning  as  far  back  as  1813,  and  continuing, 
in  an  almost  uninterrupted  series,  down  to  1852.  Those  by  which  he 
is  most  known  are  his  Hebrew  Grammar,  and  his  Commentaries  on 
the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the  Hebrews. 

Edward  Robinson. 

Edward  Robinson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1794-1863,  was  another  eminent 
Biblical  scholar  connected  for  a  time  with  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary. Of  his  many  works,  the  greatest,  and  those  most  likely  to  be 
enduring,  are  his  Biblical  Researches  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  his 
Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament. 

Prof.  Upham. 

Thomas  Cogswell  Upham,  D.D.,  1799  ,  is  extensively  and 

favorably  known  as  the  author  of  a  text-book  on  Mental  Philosophy. 

Dr.  Bethune. 

George  Washington  Bethune,  D.D.,  1805-1862,  an  eloquent  pulpit 
orator  of  the  Dutch  Church,  was  distinguished  equally  by  his  schol- 
arly tastes  and  the  elegance  of  his  writings.  He  published  also  a 
volume  of  admirable  poems,  called  Lays  of  Love  and  Faith. 

Dr.  Channing. 

William  Ellery  Channing,  D.D.,  1780-1842,  was  for  a  long  time 
the  acknowledged  leader  and  the  most  distinguished  representative  of 
the  Unitarian  Church  in  the  United  States.  His  works  have  been 
published  in  6  vols.,  consisting  mostly  of  sermons  and  addresses,  and 
of  articles  from  the  Christian  Examiner. 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  259 


Dr.  Furness. 


William  Henry  Furness,  D.  D.,  1802 ,  ]jas  been  for  nearly  half 

a  century  the  chief  representative  of  Unitarian  opinion  in  Philadel- 
phia. As  a  theologian,  he  belongs  to  the  extreme  humanitarian 
school,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  Channing,  Peabody,  and  Norton. 
He  writes  with  great  elegance  and  persuasiveness,  and  is  very  accom- 
plished as  a  man  of  letters.  His  principal  writings  are  on  the  Life 
of  Jesus. 

Theodore  Parker. 

Theodore  Parker,  1810-1860,  represents  the  most  advanced  stage  of 
American  Eationalism.  His  position  indeed  can  hardly  be  defined 
otherwise  than  one  of  open  and  avowed  unbelief  in  Christianity.  He 
was  remarkable  equally  for  the  ultraism  of  his  opinions,  and  for  the 
learning,  ability,  and  resolution  with  which  he  maintained  them.  He 
is  admitted  by  all  to  have  been  a  man  of  rare  genius.  He  was  an  in- 
cessant worker,  both  with  his  pen  and  his  tongue.  His  collected 
Works  have  been  published  in  12  vols.,  besides  the  2  vols,  of  his  Life 
and  Correspondence. 

Bishop  Potter. 

Alonzo  Potter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1800-1865,  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  a  man  of  great  breadth  of  views,  and  exerted  an  extensive  influ- 
ence outside  of  his  official  range  of  duty.  He  took  an  active  part  es- 
pecially in  the  movements  for  increasing  and  improving  the  means  of 
popular  education,  and  was  often  present  in  associations  of  teachers, 
and  always  extremely  welcome  there.  One  of  the  most  popular  of  his 
works  was  The  School  and  The  Schoolmaster,  the  latter  part  being 
written  by  George  B.  Emerson. 

Bishop  Doane.  ^ 

George  Washington  Doane,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1799-1859,  Bishop  of  New 
Jersey,  was  a  man  of  fine  culture  and  literary  tastes.  Besides  numer- 
ous sermons  and  addresses,  he  published  a  volume  of  poems,  Songs  by 
the  Way,  which  have  been  much  admired. 

Dr.  Turner. 

Samuel  H.  Turner,  D.  D.,  1790-1868,  is  by  general  consent  the  ablest 
Biblical  commentator  in  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 
His  writings  on  subjects  connected  with  his  department  are  numerous, 


260  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

but  those  which  have  the  greatest  permanent  value  are  his  Commen- 
T|JH.es  on  Komans,  Hebrews,  Ephesians,  and  Galatians. 

Dr.  Wayland. 

Francis  Wayland,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1796-1865,  long  the  honored  Presi- 
dent of  Brown  University,  was  in  his  day  the  most  distinguished  Bap- 
tist divine  in  the  United  States.  His  three  principal  works,  Moral 
Science,  Intellectual  Philosophy,  and  Political  Economy,  have  been 
used  extensively  as  text-books.  The  author  was  a  man  of  enlarged 
views,  and  had  a  national  reputation.  His  opinions  carried  great 
weight  outside,  as  well  as  within,  his  own  church. 

Alexander  Campbell. 

Kev.  Alexander  Campbell,  1788-1855,  is  well  known  as  a  religious 
reformer,  and  as  the  founder  of  a  large  and  influential  religious  society, 
who  call  themselves  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordi- 
nary intellectual  activity,  and  the  amount  of  labor  which  he  performed 
during  the  forty-five  years  of  his  ministry  borders  on  the  marvellous. 
His  writings  fill  nearly  sixty  volumes,  and  yet  they  were  but  a  part, 
and  that  not  the  largest  part,  of  his  work.  His  chief  power  was  in 
unwritten  discourse,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  incessant  activity  v/as 
exercised  as  a  speaker.  He  excelled  especially  in  debate,  and  he  had  a 
particular  fondness  for  that  method  of  propagating  truth.  As  a  public 
disputant  on  religious  topics,  he  has  probably  never  had  his  superior. 

VIII.  MISCELLANEOUS  WRITERS. 

M^s.  Sigourney. 

Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigourney,  1791-1865,  won  her  way  to  a  distin- 
guished position  in  letters,  not  by  any  one  special  and  extraordinary 
work  of  genius,  but  by  persistent  and  long  continued  labor,  moderate 
in  tone  and  useful  in  tendency.  Her  indefatigable  pen  sent  forth 
one  volume  a  year,  on  an  average,  for  half  a  century,  her  first  volume, 
Moral  Pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse,  bearing  date  1815,  and  her  fiftieth, 
Letters  of  Life,  a  sort  of  autobiography,  being  ready  for  publication  at 
the  time  of  her  death,  in  1865. 

In  all  this  long  career  of  authorship  there  was  nothing  to  startle  or 
electrify  the  public  mind.  Her  writings  were  more  like  the  dew  than 
the  lightning.  Yet  the  dew,  it  is  well  to  remember,  is  not  only  one 
of  the  most  beneficent,  but  also  one  of  the  most  powerful,  of  nature's 


FROM   1830  TO  1850.  261 

agents,  —  far  more  potential  in  grand  results  than  its  brilliant  rival. 
When  count  shall  be  made  of  the  various  agencies,  moral  and  intel- 
lectual, which  moulded  the  American  mind  and  heart  during  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  few  names  will  be  honored  with  a 
larger  credit  than  that  of  Lydia  H.  Sigourney. 

Some  of  Mrs.  Sigourney's  small  volumes,  like  the  Whisper  to  a 
Bride,  unpretending  in  character,  as  in  appearance,  yet  contain  a 
wealth  of  beauty  and  goodness  that  few  would  believe  who  have  not 
examined  them.  Of  her  larger  volumes,  none  are  more  widely  known 
than  Letters  to  Young  Ladies,  Letters  to  Mothers,  and  Letters  to  My 
Pupils.  Past  Meridian,  written  when  the  shadows  of  life  began  to 
fall  about  her,  in  the  calm  and  cheerful  serenity  of  its  spirit,  and  the 
wisdom  of  its  counsels,  reminds  the  reader  of  Cicero's  famous  essay  on 
Old  Age. 

Mrs.  Willard. 

Mrs.  Emma  Willard,  1787-1870,  is  more  known  as  a  woman  of 
action  than  as  an  author.  She  devoted  the  greater  part  of  a  long  and 
most  usefbl  life  to  the  education  of  women,  in  which  her  efforts,  both 
as  a  theorist  and  as  a  practical  teacher,  were  crowned  with  signal 
success.  Her  prominence  as  a  writer,  however,  does  not  by  any 
means  correspond  to  that  assigned  to  her  by  common  consent  as  an 
educator.  Still,  she  found  lime,  in  the  midst  of  other  duties  of  a  most 
urgent  character,  to  make  several  valuable  contributions  to  the  cause 
of  letters.  Her  most  important  publications  were,  A  History  of  the 
United  States,  and  Universal  History. 

Mrs.  Phelps. 

Mrs.  Almira  Hart  (Lincoln)  Phelps,  1793 ,  sister  of  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard, was  like  her  prominently  identified  with  the  first  movements  to 
raise  the  character  of  education  for  women,  and  like  her  too  made 
valuable  contributions  to  the  literature  of  instruction.  Her  text- 
books on  Botany,  in  particular,  were  for  a  long  time  the  best  in  the 
market. 

Mrs.  Gilman. 

Mrs.  Caroline  (Howard)  Gilman,  1794  ,  was  very  generally 

known  to  a  preceding  generation  by  her  pleasant  book,  called  Recol- 
lections of  a  Southern  Matron. 


262  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Mrs.  Hale. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Josepha  Hale,  1790  ,  like  several  other  of  the 

noble  women  mentioned  in  this  section,  is  known  all  over  the  land  by 
her  life-long  efforts  to  promote  the  intellectual  elevation  of  her  sex. 
Her  work  in  this  behalf  has  differed,  however,  from  that  of  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard  and  Mrs.  Phelf>s,  in  that  she  has  labored  with  her  pen  only. 
Besides  numerous  volumes  of  an  attractive  and  useful  kind,  she  has 
continued  for  forty-five  years  to  cater  monthly  for  the  intellectual 
entertainment  of  her  countrymen,  through  the  columns  of  The  Lady's 
Book  and  its  predecessor  The  Ladies'  Magazine.  The  high  standard 
of  domestic  morals  always  observable  in  these  magazines  has  undoubt- 
edly done  much  towards  preserving  the  purity  of  American  homes, 
and  for  this  service  tlie  public  is  largely  indebted  to  the  sound  sense 
of  Sarah  Josepha  Hale. 

Besides  her  contributions  to  the  Lady's  Book,  Mrs.  Hale  has  pub- 
lished a  large  number  of  separate  volumes.  The  largest  and  alto- 
gether the  most  important  of  all  is  her  Woman's  Eecord,  a  volume  of 
918  pages,  royal  8vo,  containing  biographical  sketches  of.  all  distin- 
guished women  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  5^ear  1868,  and 
illustrated  by  230  portraits. 

Mrs.  Tuthill. 

Mrs.  Louisa  Caroline  Tuthill,  1799 ,  has  had  more  than  ordi- 
nary success  as  a  writer  of  books  for  the  young,  and  she  was  one  of 
the  earliest  to  engage  extensively  in  that  line  of  composition.  Her 
stories  are  marked  by  sobriety  and  good  sense,  and  are  entirely  free 
from  the  extravagance  and  sensationalism  which  disfigure  too  many 
of  the  books  now  written  for  juvenile  readers.  Her  books  for  the 
young  are  numerous,  and  have  been  very  popular.  The  following 
are  the  titles  of  some  of  these :  I  will  be  a  Lady ;  I  will  be  a  Gentle- 
man; Onward,  right  Onward;  Anything  for  Sport;  The  Lawyer; 
The  Artist ;  The  Mechanic,  etc. 

President  Quincy. 

Josiah  Quincy,  LL.  D.,  1772-1864,  long  the  honored  President  of 
Harvard  University,  wrote  much  for  the  public,  but  chiefly  in  the  form 
of  pamphlets  and  addresses  on  special  occasions.  His  principal  work 
in  book-form  was  A  History  of  Harvard  University. 


FROM   1830  TO   1850.  263 

Horace  Mann. 

Horace  Mann,  LL.  D.,  1796-1859,  is  universally  known  by  his  writ- 
ings and  labors  in  the  cause  of  popular  education.  He  gave  to  that 
cause  a  new  and  important  impulse,  the  benefits  of  which  have  been 
felt  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  time  or  of  his  personal  labors. 
His  writings  were  confined  chiefly  to  his  Annual  Reports  and  his 
Lectures  and  Addresses. 

Schoolcraft. 

Henry  Rowe  Schoolcraft,  LL.  D.,  1793-1864,  has  acquired  for  him- 
self an  enduring  name,  by  his  writings  and  researches  in  reference  to 
the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America.  His  great  work,  Historical  In- 
formation concerning  the  Indian  Tribes,  etc.,  was  published  by  act  of 
Congress,  in  six  large  quarto  volumes,  profusely  and  handsomely  illus- 
trated. The  work  contains  an  immense  amount  of  information  upon 
everything  relating  to  Indian  manners,  mythology,  antiquities,  lan- 
guage, etc.,  but  so  poorly  digested  and  so  deficient  in  philosophic 
method  as  to  be,  in  the  words  of  Humboldt,  "  almost  worthless."  The 
volumes  are  a  mine  from  which  the  gold  is  yet  to  be  extracted  by 
some  future  explorer. 

A.  J.  Downing. 

Andrew  Jackson  Downing,  1815-1852,  was  an  accomplished  writer 
on  the  subject  of  landscape  gardening,  and  by  his  publications  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  improvement  of  public  taste  in  America,  in  the 
matter  of  rural  adornment.  The  following  are  his  principal  works : 
Landscape  Gardening  and  Rural  Architecture ;  Fruit  and  Fruit-Trees 
of  America ;  Cottage  Residences ;  Architecture  of  Country  Houses ; 
Rural  Essays,  a  collection  of  papers  printed  originally  in  the  Horti- 
culturist. 

Gallaudet. 

Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  LL.  D.,  1787-1851,  is  justly  celebrated 
for  his  efforts  in  the  education  of  deaf  mutes.  He  was  indeed  the 
apostle  of  this  work  in  the  United  States.  Besides  his  labors  in  this 
direction,  he  wrote  many  valuable  works.  Among  these,  two  deserve 
particular  mention.  The  Child's  Book  of  the  Soul,  and  the  Youth's 
Book  of  Natural  Theology. 

S.  G.  Goodrich  — '' Peter  Parley." 

Samuel  Griswold  Goodrich,  1793-1863,  better  known  as  Peter 
Parley,  was  remarkably  successful  in  simplifying  various  kinds  of 


264  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

knowledge,  chiefly  historical,  so  as  to  make  it  easily  understood  by 
young  readers,  and  consequently  useful  as  a  means  of  education.  The 
Peter  Parley  books  form  a  noticeable  feature  in  the  literature  of  the 
period. 

Mr.  Goodrich's  pen  was  kept  busy  to  the  close  of  his  life,  —  how 
busy,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was  either  author  or  editor 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  distinct  volumes ;  and  how  far  his  labors 
were  acceptable,  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  over  seven  millions 
of  volumes  of  his  works  were  sold  during  his  lifetime.  Mr.  Goodrich 
made  no  pretence  to  classical  or  critical  erudition  or  to  historical 
research,  but  he  had  a  special  gift  for  writing  in  a  style  suited  to  the 
taste  and  comprehension  of  children,  and  he  exercised  his  gift  in  a 
way  that  has  brought  lasting  honor  to  him,  and  has  been  a  public 
benefit  to  his  race. 

His  works  may  be  classified  as  follows :  Peter  Parley  books,  116 
vols.,  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects  likely  to  interest  children ;  School 
books  (Histories,  Geographies,  Headers,  etc.),  27  vols. ;  Miscellaneous, 
27  vols. 


CHAPTER  V. 

From  isso  to  the  Present  Time. 

The  present  Chapter  treats  mainly  of  writers  still  living.  These 
are  divided  into  eleven  sections:  1.  The  Poets,  beginning  with  Long- 
fellow ;  2.  Writers  on  Literature  and  Criticism,  beginning  with  Low- 
ell ;  3.  Magazinists,  beginning  with  Holmes ;  4.  Journalists,  beginning 
with  Bennett ;  5.  Humorists,  beginning  with  Artemus  Ward ;  6.  Mis- 
cellaneous Writers,  beginning  with  Bayard  Taylor;  7.  Novelists 
and  Writers  of  Tales  and  Travels,  beginning  with  Hawthorne ;  8.  His- 
torians, beginning  with  Prescott ;  9.  Writers  on  Politics  and  Political 
Economy,  beginning  with  Henry  C.  Carey  ;  10.  Scientific  Writers,  be- 
ginning with  Agassiz ;  11.  Writers  on  Keligion  and  Theology,  begin- 
ning with  Hodge. 

I.     THE  POETS. 

Longfellow. 

Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow,  LL.  D.,  1807  ,  is  by  general 

consent  the  most  distinguished  living  representative  of  the  poetical 
literature  of  the  country.  He  is  clearly  our  American  Poet-Laureate, 
—  crowned  by  general  suffrage,  alike  of  the  learned  and  the  unlearned, 
the  critic  and  those  who  read  for  the  pleasure  only  that  his  sweet  verse 
gives  them. 

Prof.  Longfellow  began  publication  very  early.  Several  of  his 
poems  which  appeared  before  he  was  yet  nineteen,  and  while  still  a 
student  in  college,  have  been  retained  in  the  collected  edition  of  his 
works.  One  of  these  college  poems  was  the  Hymn  of  the  Moravian 
Nuns  of  Bethlehem,  which  early  found  its  way  into  the  reading-books 
of  the  common  schools. 

23  265 


266  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

His  first  volume,  1833,  was  Coplas  de  Manrique,  —  a  translation 
from  the  Spanish,  with  an  Essay  on  the  Moral  and  Devotional  Poetry 
of  Spain. 

His  next  volume,  1835,  was  Outre-Mer,  a  Pilgrimage  beyond  the 
Sea.  It  was  a  poetical  prose  work,  not  unlike  the  Sketeh-Book  of 
Washington  Irving. 

A  third  volume,  also  of  poetical  prose,  was  Hyperion,  a  Romance, 
1839. 

The  same  year  appeared  Voices  of  the  Night,  a  collection  of  short 
poems,  containing  among  others  A  Psalm  of  Life,  The  Eeaper  and  the 
Flowers,  and  The  Beleaguered  City. 

In  1841,  appeared  Ballads  and  other  Poems,  containing  several 
pieces  which  attained  immediate  and  lasting  favor,  such  as  The  Skel- 
eton in  Armor,  God's- Acre,  To  the  Kiver  Charles,  Blind  Bartimeus, 
and  Excelsior. 

Poems  on  Slavery  appeared  in  1842,  and  in  the  same  year  The 
Spanish  Student,  a  Play,  of  which  the  sale  has  been  large. 

In  1845,  he  published  The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,  a  large 
octavo,  containing  biographical  and  critical  notices,  and  translations 
by  himself  and  others. 

The  Belfry  of  Bruges  and  other  Poems  appeared  in  1846.  The 
most  noted  of  the  pieces  in  this  collection  were  The  Arsenal  at  Spring- 
field, and  The  Old  Clock  on  the  Stairs. 

Evangeline,  his  first  long  poem,  was  published  in  1847. 

Kavanagh,  a  prose  tale,  descriptive  of  New  England  life,  appeared 
in  1849.  The  same  year  witnessed  the  publication  of  Seaside  and 
Fireside,  a  collection  of  short  poems.  Among  these  were  The  Build- 
ing of  the  Ship,  Resignation,  and  Sand  of  the  Desert  in  an  Hour-Glass. 

The  Golden  Legend,  his  longest  single  poem,  was  issued  in  1851. 
It  is  a  narrative  poem,  giving  a  lively  picture  of  monastic  and  civil 
life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  is  remarkable  for  its  variety  of  style  and 
versification. 

The  Song  of  Hiawatha,  another  long  poem,  appeared  in  1855.  Like 
Evangeline,  it  attracted  universal  attention,  both  by  the  freshness  of 
its  subject  and  the  novelty  of  its  versification. 

The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  another  long  poem,  also  immedi- 
ately popular,  appeared  in  1858. 

Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn,  a  collection  of  poems  somewhat  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Canterbury  Tales,  was  published  in  1863.  The  pieces 
in  this  collection  which  are  best  known  are  Paul  Revere's  Ride,  and 
the  Birds  of  Killingworth.  A  continuation  of  these  Tales,  called  The 
Second  Day,  appeared  in  1872. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      267 

Another  collection  appeared  under  the  title  of  Birds  of  Passage, 
among  its  exquisite  gems  being  The  Children's  Hour,  and  Weariness  ; 
and  in  1866  was  published  a  volume  called  Flower-de-Luce  and  other 
Poems. 

Since  that  time  have  appeared  New  England  Tragedies,  and  the 
Divine  Tragedy.  These  last,  it  is  said,  are  to  be  taken  in  connection 
with  The  Golden  Legend,  published  twenty  years  ago,  the  whole 
forming  one  connected  work  of  art,  somewhat  as  do  the  successive 
Arthurian  legends  of  Tennyson. 

In  1867,  appeared  the  translation  of  Dante's  Divina  Commedia,  in 
three  superb  octavos.  It  is  the  crowning  achievement  of  Mr.  Long- 
fellow's remarkable  skill  as  a  translator. 

From  this  rapid  sketch  it  appears  that  Mr.  Longfellow  has  been  ac- 
tively and  almost  continuously  productive  as  an  author  for  almost  half 
a  century.  His  longer  poems,  The  Golden  Legend,  Evangeline,  Hia- 
watha, Miles  Standish,  The  Spanish  Student,  and  the  translation  of 
Dante,  are  familiarly  known  to  all  readers  of  English  poetry.  Each 
of  his  many  collections  of  short  pieces  has  contained  some  which 
have  become  household  words  wherever  the  English  tongue  is  spoken. 
His  utterances  are  in  the  middle  key,  between  the  matter-of-fact  and 
the  highly  ideal.  His  verse  is  always  tender  and  delicate,  unobtru- 
sively winning  its  way  to  the  heart.  It  is  the  chosen  companion  of 
our  quiet,  unbent  moods. 

Whittier. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  1808 ,  is  our  leading  lyric  poet,  and, 

with  the  exception  perhaps  of  Bryant,  is  the  one  most  thoroughly 
American.  In  Mr.  Whittier's  poems,  the  life,  the  scenes,  the  charac- 
ters portrayed,  the  very  atmosphere  in  which  they  move,  are  all  in- 
tensely American.  He  has  been  called  the  Quaker  Poet,  in  reference 
to  his  religious  views  and  connections,  and  he  has  certainly  earned  for 
himself  the  title  of  Abolitionist,  by  his  fierce  anti-slavery  philippics. 
Yet  much  of  his  best  poetry,  and  especially  that  of  his  later  years, 
shows  him  possessed  of  a  large  and  truly  catholic  spirit,  which  finds 
its  way  to  the  heart  of  every  reader. 

As  a  poet  Whittier  first  appeared  in  1831,  when  he  published  his 
Legends  of  New  England,  in  Prose  and  Verse.  The  majority  of  his 
early  poems  were  first  published  as  fugitive  pieces  in  newspapers  and 
other  periodicals,  and  afterwards  re-issued  in  collections,  from  time  to 
time.  Thus  appeared  The  Ballads,  1838;  Lays  of  My  Home,  1843; 
The  Voices  of  Freedom,  1849 ;  The  Chapel  of  the  Hermits,  1853 ;  The 


268  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Panorama  and  Other  Poems,  1856 ;  Home  Ballads,  1860 ;  In  War  Time, 
1863;  National  Lyrics,  1865.  Mogg  Megone  and  Moll  Pitcher  ap- 
peared separately  in  1836. 

Whittier's  latest  productions  are  Snow-Bound,  The  Tent  on  the 
Beach,  Among  the  Hills,  and  Ballads  of  New  England,  which  have 
all  appeared  since  1866. 

Bryant. 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  1794 ,  by  the  publication  of  Thanatop- 

sis,  acquired,  almost  sixty  years  ago,  a  national  reputation  as  a  poet,^ 
and  he  has  continued  at  brief  intervals  ever  since  to  add  to  his  laurels 
by  some  new  effort,  showing  that  hjs  fire  is  not  yet  extinct,  nor  his 
vigor  abated.  His  poems  are  not  so  numerous  or  so  varied  as  those 
of  Whittier  or  Longfellow,  yet  he  is  as  clearly  among  the  great  poets 
that  every  American  involuntarily  claims  as  a  part  of  the  national 
inheritance. 

Mr.  Bryant's  poems  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  as  occasional 
contributions  to  the  magazines,  and  have  had  a  singular  uniformity  of 
excellence.  They  all  show  care  and  finish,  and  original  observation. 
No  English  poet,  living  or  dead,  has  been  a  more  accurate  observer  of 
nature,  as  any  one  may  prove  who  will  take  a  volume  of  his  poems 
out  into  the  woods  and  fields,  and  read  the  descriptions  in  the  very 
presence  of  what  is  described. 

Boker. 

George  Henry  Boker,  1824 ,  has  succeeded  better  than  any  other 

American  author  in  the  difiicult  line  of  dramatic  composition.  His 
principal  plays,  Calaynos,  Anne  Boleyn,  Leonor  de  Guzman,  and 
Francesca  da  Kimini,  tragedies,  are  all  conceived  on  the  highest  type 
of  the  regular  drama,  and  are  truly  classical  performances.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  dramatic  compositions,  he  has  written  several  other  long 
poems,  besides  numerous  short  lyrics  of  great  excellence. 

Mr.  Boker  has  not  been  a  prolific  writer,  yet  something  considerable 
from  his  pen  every  few  years  shows  that  he  has  not  been  idle ;  and 
every  new  addition  to  his  list  of  works  has  been  such  as  to  increase  the 
admiration  of  the  public  for  his  poetic  genius.  Carefully  avoiding 
whatever  is  of  a  sensational  character,  and  resolutely  refusing  to  cater 
to  a  false  taste,  'even  at  the  risk  of  some  loss  of  temporary  notoriety, 
he  has  wrought  slowly  and  laboriously,  after  the  highest  ideals  of  ex- 
cellence, calmly  awaiting  the  final  verdict  of  assured  success.  The 
tendency  of  his  mind,  as  already  remarked,  is  towards  the  dramatic 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      269 

form  of  composition,  and  his  first  signal  success,  the  tragedy  of  Calay- 
nos,  was  in  that  line.  As  a  lyric  poet,  however,  and  especially  as  a 
writer  of  Sonnets,  his  merits  are  of  a  high  order.  TJie  following  is  a 
list  of  his  principal  publications :  Calaynos,  a  Tragedy ;  Anne  Boleyn, 
a  Tragedy ;  Leonor  de  Guzman,  a  Tragedy ;  The  Betrothal ;  The  Po- 
desta's  Daughter ;  The  Ivory  Carver ;  A  Ballad  of  Sir  John  Franklin ; 
Song  of  the  Earth ;  Street  Lyrics ;  and  a  large  number  of  Sonnets, 
Songs,  and  minor  poems. 

Buchanan  Read. 

Tliomas  Buchanan  Eead,  1822-1872,  is  almost  equally  celebrated  as 
an  artist  and  a  poet,  and  is  familiarly  known  as  the  Poet-Painter.  He 
published  several  long  p<?ems,  as  The  New  Pastoral,  and  The  House 
by  the  Sea,  but  the  short  lyrics  contained  in  his  Lays  and  Ballads 
are  those  on  which  chiefly  his  reputation  rests. 

Mr.  Bead's  shorter  pieces  have  been  collected  and  published  in  va- 
rious forms,  both  in  England  and  the  United  States,  and  have  received 
the  warmest  commendations.  They  constitute  indeed  his  highest 
claims  to  fame.  His  lyrics  are  his  greatest  works.  Sheridan's  Ride 
is  one  of  the  few  things  written  during  the  heat  of  the  war  that  is 
likely  to  survive.  Others  of  his  short  pieces,  though  not  so  widely 
known  as  this,  are  hardly  inferior  to  it  in  merit. 

John  G.  Saxe. 

John  Godfrey  Saxe,  LL.  D.,  1816 ,  has  a  national  reputation  as 

a  humorous  poet.  His  poem  of  The  Proud  Miss  McBride  is  familiar 
to  every  reader.  Among  his  other  well  known  pieces  are  The  Money 
King,  Rhyme  of  the  Rail,  The  Flying  Dutchman,  The  Masquerade. 
He  excels  in  light,  easy  verse,  and  in  unexpected,  if  not  absolutely 
punning,  turns  of  expression.  In  the  general  style  and  effect  of  his 
comic  pieces  he  strongly  reminds  one  of  Thomas  Hood. 

Saxe,  it  must  be  observed,  is  one  of  the  very  few  thoroughly  na- 
tional poets,  in  this  sense,  that  his  themes  and  the  atmosphere  of  his 
verse  are  almost  exclusively  American. 

Dr.  Holland. 

Josiah  Gilbert  Holland,  M.  D.,  1819  ,  after  becoming  widely 

and  favorably  known  as  a  prose  writer,  under  the  name  of  Timothy 
Titcomb,  rose  suddenly  to  fame  as  a  poet,  by  the  publication  of  two 
poems,  Bitter  Sweet,  and  Kathrina.     Both  these  poems,  especially  the 
23* 


270  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

latter,  were  received  with  an  immediate  and  general  favor  almost  un- 
precedented. 

As  a  prose  writer,  Dr.  Holland  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  one  of  our 
best.  As  a  poet,  he  has  received  much  adverse,  and  some  unkind 
criticism.  His  Katlirina  doubtless  is  open  to  criticism.  Yet  it  is  idle 
to  deny  to  this  poem  great  and  distinguishing  merit.  The  author,  at 
all  events,  may  console  himself  with  the  fact,  that  while  the  critics 
flout,  the  people  read  and  buy.  No  American  poem,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Longfellow's  Hiawatha,  has  had  such  tangible  evidences 
of  popularity.  The  sale  of  Kathrina  in  the  first  six  months  was 
40,000  copies,  and  it  has  since  gone  beyond  60,000.  Many  of  Dr. 
Holland's  other  works  have  enjoyed  a  like  popularity. 

Jaines  T.  Fields. 

James  T.  Fields,  1820 ,  the  well-known  Boston  bookseller,  is 

the  author  of  two  volumes  of  jjoems  and  of  a  series  of  charming  prose 
sketches,  called  Yesterdays  with  Authors. 

Alfred  B.  Street. 

Alfred  Billings  Street,  1811 ,  is  one  of  the  best  descriptive  poets 

of  which  American  literature  has  to  boast.  His  descriptions  of  forest 
life,  especially,  are  wonderfully  graphic  and  true  to  nature.  His  longest 
work,  Frontenac,  is  a  narrative  poem,  being  a  tale  of  the  Iroquois. 
The  poem  which  is  best  known,  and  which  on  the  whole  is  the  most 
effective,  is  the  Gray  Forest  Eagle. 

Henry  Lynden  Flash. 

Henry  Lynden  Flash,  1837 ,  of  Alabama,  published,  in  1860, 

a  volume  of  Poems  of  uncommon  power  and  beauty.  During  and 
since  the  war,  he  has  made  various  contributions  to  periodical  litera- 
ture, but  has  published  no  additional  volumes. 

Mrs.  Margaret  J.  Preston. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Junkin  Preston, ,  of  Lexington,  Va.,  is  at 

this  time  the  sweetest  singer  of  the  Old  Dominion.  She  has  never 
made  literature  a  profession,  yet  she  has  been  for  twenty-five  years  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  magazines,  and  she  has  published  three 
volumes  of  po'oms  which  have  been  received  with  marked  favor.  The 
modt  considerable  of  these  was  Beochenbrook,  a  Rhyme  of  the  Wax. 


FBOM    1850    TO    THE    PEESENT    TIME.      271 

The  Gary  Sisters. 

Alice  and  Piioebe  Gary  were  so  connected  in  tlieir  lives,  and  are  so 
linked  together  in  the  recollections  of  the  public,  that  no  record  of 
either  can  be  truthful  or  complete  without  containing  at  the  same 
time  a  record  of  the  other.     They  will  be  noticed  therefore  together. 

Alice  Gary,  1820-1871,  and  Phgebe  Gary,  1824-1871,  were  born 
on  a  form,  eight  miles  north  of  Gincinnati.  They  had  no  advantages  of 
early  education,  except  the  usual  attendance  upon  the  district  school. 

The  sisters  were  unlike  in  mind  and  body.  Alice  was  possessed 
of  extreme  delicacy,  was  timid  in  disposition  and  feeble  in  health. 
Phoebe  was  possessed  of  robust  health,  was  self-reliant,  and  had  no 
small  share  of  humor  and  wit. 

In  1851,  their  mother  being  dead,  and  the  family  broken  up,  the 
sisters,  aged  respectively  thirty-one  and  twenty-seven,  with  no  means 
of  support  but  their  brains  and  their  fingers,  went  to  New  York  to 
make  a  living  by  literature.  Instead  of  boarding,  they  rented  a  small, 
cheap  house,  and  set  up  housekeeping,  and  there,  by  economy,  and 
by  dint  of  hard  work,  they  managed  to  keep  the  wolf  at  bay.  Grad- 
ually signs  of  thrift  appeared  ;  and  eventually  they  lived  in  a  house 
of  their  own,  not  large  or  showy,  but  comfortable,  and  paid  for  by 
the  labor  of  their  hands. 

They  wrote  chiefly  for  the  New  York  Tribune,  and  Independent, 
though  not  confining  themselves  to  these  periodicals,  and  appearing 
in  frequent  volumes,  both  prose  and  verse. 

Of  the  separate  publications,  those  of  Alice  are :  Hagar,  a  novel ; 
Lyra  and  Other  Poems ;  Glovernook ;  Married,  not  Mated,  a  novel ; 
Poems ;  Pictures  of  Gountry  Life,  prose  ;  A  Lover's  Diary.  The  sep- 
arate volumes  by  Phoebe  are:  Poems  and  Parodies ;  Poems  of  Faith, 
Hope  and  Resignation. 

Mrs.  E.  C.  Kinney. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Glementine  Kinney, ,  wife  of  the  Hon. 

William  B.  Kinney,  long  United  States  Minister  to  Sardinia,  is  gifted 
with  fine  poetic  talents,  and  is  the  author  of  numerous  lyrics  which 
in  1867  were  published  in  a  volume.  One  of  these,  The  Italian  Beg- 
gar Boy,  appeared  originally  in  Blackwood,  and  has  been  much  ad- 
mired. 

While  in  Italy,  Mrs.  Kinney  published  Felicita,  a  romance  in  verse, 
three  hundred  pages.  After  her  return,  she  published  two  volumes 
of  Poems.  She  has  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  contributed,  both  in 
prose  and  verse,  to  the  periodicals. 


272  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

A.  D.  F.  Randolph. 

Anson  D.  F.  Kandolph,  1820 ,  a  bookseller  of  New  York,  has 

written  some  beautiful  lyrics,  which,  after  having  gone  the  rounds  of 
the  newspapers,  were  collected  by  a  brother  in  the  craft,  Mr.  Charles 
Scribner,  and  published  in  a  dainty  volume,  iinder  the  title  of  Hope- 
fully Waiting. 

Bret  Harte. 

Francis  Bret  Harte,  1837 ,  is  one  of  the  few  poets  that  have 

risen  to  fame  by  a  single  bound.  His  Heathen  Chinee  and  his  Con- 
densed Novels  took  the  public  by  surprise,  and  marked  the  author  at 
once  as  a  man  of  genius.  His  publications  in  book  form,  since  the 
appearance  of  Condensed  Novels,  have  been  The  Luck  of  Roaring 
Camp  and  other  Stories,  and  three  volumes  of  Poems. 

Joaquin  Miller. 

Cincinnatus  Heine  Miller,  1841 -,  better  known  as  "Joaquin" 

Miller,  is  another  Western  celebrity,  whose  appearance  above  the 
horizon  was  even  more  sudden  and  meteoric  than  that  of  Bret  Harte. 
Miller's  Songs  of  the  Sierras,  published  in  London  in  1871,  made  him 
before  the  end  of  the  year  famous  in  both  continents.  They  created 
a  sensation  which  has  hardly  been  equalled  since  the  time  of  Byron. 


II.    WRITERS  ON  LITERATURE  AND  CRITICISM. 

Lowell. 

James  Russell  Lowell,  1819 ,  excels  in  so  many  lines  of  effort 

that  it  is  not  easy  to  know  in  what  class  of  writers  to  place  him.  The 
Cathedral  and  Under  the  Willows  give  him  rank  among  our  foremost 
poets.  The  Bigelow  Papers  show  him  to  be  inferior  to  none  in  hu- 
morous satire.  His  latest  and  most  consummate  efforts,  however,  as 
given  in  the  two  volumes  Among  My  Books,  and  My  Study  Win- 
dows, seem  to  point  to  literary  criticism  as  that  in  which  he  has 
achieved  his  greatest  success. 

As  a  satirist,  Lowell  has  no  equal  in  his  own  country,  perhaps  not 
among  English  .writers  of  the  century.  His  satire  is  not  broad,  like 
that  of  Saxe  and  Holmes,  but  quaint  and  subtle.  The  Bigelow  Pa- 
pers, written  in  Yankee  dialect,  have  one  special  merit.  They  give 
that  dialect  in  all  its  native  raciness  and  truth,  and  expose  the  hol- 
lowness  of  such  doggerel  as  Sam  Slick's,  which,  by  the  side  of  the 
Bigelow  Papers,  sinks  down  into  the  merest  every-day  vulgarism. 


FROM     1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.       273 

As  a  critic,  Lowell  stands  foremost  among  his  countrymen.  Others 
have  equalled  him  in  erudition,  but  no  one  has  succeeded  so  happily 
in  blending  profound  and  wide  study  with  exquisite  sympathy  for  the 
author  or  the  work  discussed.  The  only  objection  that  can  be  urged 
against  his  literary  essays  is  that  the  author  occasionally  sacrifices  an 
exact  shade  of  truth  for  a  neat  point.  The  truth  is  stated  substan- 
tially, but  thrown  into  the  background  by  a  brilliant  corruscation  of 
wit. 

Tuekerman. 

Henry  Theodore  Tuekerman,  1813-1871,  was  one  of  the  ablest,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  most  prolific  of  American  writers  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  criticism.  He  was  almost  equally  celebrated  also  as  a 
biographer  and  a  poet.  Plis  largest  and  best-known  works  are.  Artist 
Life,  and  Essays  Biographical  and  Critical. 

"Whipple. 

Edwin  Percy  Whipple,  1819 ,  is  probably,  next  to  Lowell,  the 

most  capable  as  well  as  th6  most  popular  American  critic  and  essay- 
ist. His  two  volumes  entitled  Character  and  Characteristic  Men,  and 
his  volume  on  The  Literature  of  the  Age  of  Elizabeth,  are  the  publi- 
cations by  which  he  has  gained  the  greatest  applause. 

Kate  Field. 

Kate  Field, ,  has  published  but  one  volume,  Pen-Photo- 
graphs of  Dickens's  Readings,  but  she  is  very  widely  and  favorably 
known  as  a  critic  on  art  and  literature,  and  as  a  lecturer. 

Moses  Coit  Tyler. 

Moses  Coit  Tyler,  1835 ,  Professor  of  the  English  Language 

and  Literature  in  the  University  of  Michigan,  has  made  some  admi- 
rable contributions  to  current  literature. 

Prof.  Tyler's  publications,  besides  numerous  articles  in  the  news- 
papers, have  been  as  follows :  An  Account  of  Vassar  College ;  Popular 
Lecturing  in  England ;  The  Brownville  Papers,  a  volume  of  essays 
on  physical  culture. 

Richard  Grant  White. 

Richard   Grant  White,   1822  ,  is  well   known  as  the   ablest 

Shakespearian  editor  and  critic  that  has  yet  appeared  in  America. 

S 


274  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

His  first  essay  in  this  line  was  a  large  octavo,  Shakespeare's  Scholar, 
in  1862,  being  historical  and  critical  studies  of  the  text,  characters, 
and  commentators,  with  an  examination  of  Mr.  Collier's  Folio  of 
1632.  Tills  volume  gave  the  author  at  once  a  high  standing  as  a 
Shakespeare  critic.  It  was  followed  in  1859  by  An  Essay  on  the 
Authorship  of  the  Three  Parts  of  King  Henry  VI.  These  works  were 
preliminary  to  a  larger  one,  namely,  A  New  and  Independent  Critical 
Edition  of  Shakespeare's  Works.  This  appeared  in  1857-1865,  in  12 
vols.,  8vo.  It  is  a  noble  monument  of  taste  and  scholarship,  and  con- 
tains all  that  any  ordinary  reader  wants  for  studying  and  enjoying 
Shakespeare.  In  connection  with  this,  but  as  an  independent  work, 
appeared  A  Life  of  Shakespeare,  with  an  essay  on  his  genius  and  on 
the  rise  of  the  English  drama. 

Duyckinck  Brothers. 

The  brothers  Evaet  A.  and  George  L.  Duyckinck  have  bestowed 
a  lasting  benefit  upon  American  letters  by  their  invaluable  work,  The 
Encyclopaedia  of  American  Literature.  This  work,  in  two  large  vol- 
umes, double-column  octavo,  is  modelled  after  Chambers's  Encyclo- 
paedia of  English  Literature,  but  for  thoroughness  and  every  other  de- 
sirable quality  is  superior  to  Chambers's.  The  Duyckincks'  work  may 
be  supplemented  (the  continual  and  rapid  growth  of  our  literature 
requires  this),  but  it  can  never  be  superseded.  It  is  the  best,  in  fact 
the  only,  comprehensive  and  adequate  exposition  of  American  litera- 
ture to  the  date  of  its  publication,  1856.  A  new  edition  brings  the 
work  down  to  1873. 

Allibone. 

Samuel  Austin  Allibone,  LL.  D.,  1816  ,  has  made  the  entire 

literary  world  his  debtors  by  his  great  work,  the  Dictionary  of  Authors. 
This  is  in  3  vols.,  large  8vo,  filling  3,140  closely  printed  pages,  and 
containing  over  46,000  authors,  with  40  Indexes  of  subjects.  The  plan 
is  to  give  a  short  life  of  each  author,  accompanied  by  a  list  of  his  pub- 
lications, and  extracts  from  the  opinions  of  the  best  critics  in  regard 
to  his  standing  and  character.  The  work  abounds  also  in  literary 
anecdotes  and  curious  information  of  an  authentic  character  in  regard 
to  authors  and  authorship.  As  a  mine  of  information  on  the  subject 
of  which  it  treats,  it  is  unparalleled.  By  solitary  and  single-handed 
labor,  protracted  through  twenty  years,  the  author  has  achieved  a 
work  such  as  ordinarily  is  accomplished  only  by  the  joint  effort  of  a 
large  number  of  laborers  working  in  concert ;  and  the  result  is  a  mon- 
ument of  patient  and  productive  industry  which  has  few  parallels  in 
literary  history. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      275 

James  Wood  Davidson. 

Prof.  James  Wood  Davidson,  1829  ,  lias  done  a  signal  service 

to  letters  by  his  exceedingly  interesting  and  able  work,  The  Living 
Writers  of  the  South.  This  Avork,  in  its  635  well-filled  pages,  contains 
an  amount  and  kind  of  information  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats 
that  is  nowhere  else  to  be  obtained. 


III.     MAOAZINISTS. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  M.  D.,  1809  ,  like  many  others  named 

in  the  present  chapter,  excels  in  several  departments.  He  is  by  pro- 
fession a  medical  lecturer,  and  ranks  high  as  a  writer  on  medical  sci- 
ence, producing  on  one  occasion  three  prize  dissertations  in  two  suc- 
cessive years.  He  has  won  great  praise  also  as  a  poet.  But  his 
greatest  and  most  enduring  fame,  undoubtedly,  is  that  acquired  as  a 
writer  of  magazine  articles.  Were  there  a  laureate  for  this  line  of  art, 
as  there  is  for  poetry,  Holmes  beyond  all  question  would  wear  the  bays. 
No  living  magazinist,  English  or  American,  can  equal  him.  His 
Autocrat  at  the  Breakfast  Table  and  its  successors,  are  fully  up  to  the 
Noctes  Ambrosianai  of  Blackwood  when  Wilson  was  in  his  prime. 
Holmes's  other  best  known  works  are  The  Professor  at  the  Breakfast 
Table,  Elsie  Venner,  and  The  Guardian  Angel. 

James  Parton. 

James  Parton,  1822  ,  is  a  magazinist  of  the  first  order,  although 

he  has  not  the  exuberant  wit  and  fancy  which  in  conjunction  with  the 
more  solid  qualities  make  Holmes  supreme.  Mr.  Parton  is,  perhaps, 
the  only  American  author  who  has  made  magazine-writing  a  profes- 
sion. He  has  pursued  it  for  a  long  series  of  years  with  continued  and 
undivided  devotion,  and  his  success  has  been  commensurate  with  his 
zeal. 

No  magazinist  of  the  day  writes  more  readable  articles.  His  judg- 
ment, however,  is  not  always  equal  to  his  faculty  of  making  a  subject 
interesting,  so  that  his  opinions  are  received  with  some  distrust,  though 
he  is  always  sure  of  an  audience.  He  has  a  vigorous  imagination,  ap- 
prehends with  wonderful  clearness  what  he  wants  to  say,  and  says  it 
in  such  a  way  that  it  is  difficult  not  to  take  his  meaning;  and  withal 
he  has  an  instinctive  sagacity  for  knowing  what  points  in  any  given 
subject  are  likely  to  interest  the  general  reader.     He  usually  writes 


276  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

long  articles,  yet  he  is  never  dull ;  he  makes  even  statistics  entertain- 
ing. 

Mr.  Parton's  separate  volumes  are  mostly  biographies,  while  his 
magazine  articles  are  usually  special  studies  of  the  current  topics  of 
the  day.  He  has  published  extended  Biographies  of  Horace  Greeley, 
Aaron  Burr,  Andrew  Jackson,  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Jacob  Astor, 
and  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Mrs.  Parton,— ''  Fanny  Fern." 

Mrs.  Sarah  Payson  (Willis)  Parton,  1811-1872,  under  the  name  of 
"Fanny  Fern,"  acquired,  and  for  a  long  series  of  years  maintained,  a 
reputation  almost  unique  as  a  writer  of  short,  spicy  articles  on  topics 
of  the  day. 

The  first  distinct  recognition  of  her  extraordinary  merit  came  from 
Mr.  Bonner,  of  the  New  York  Ledger,  who  boldly  engaged  her  to 
write  a  story  for  that  paper  at  the  extraordinary  price  of  a  hundred 
dollars  a  column,  and  was  so  well  pleased  with  his  bargain  that  he  con- 
tracted with  her  to  write  for  him,  on  the  same  terms,  a  weekly  article, 
which  she  continued  to  do  for  eighteen  years,  without  ever  missing 
for  a  single  week. 

These  sprightly  essays  were  worked  up,  from  time  to  time,  into  vol- 
umes with  fancy  names,  and  had  a  large  sale  in  this  separate  form, 
besides  the  enormous  circulation  which  they  had  in  the  Ledger. 
The  names  of  these  books  are  Fern  Leaves,  First  and  Second  Series ; 
Fresh  Leaves ;  Little  Ferns  for  Fanny's  Little  Friends ;  The  Play 
Book ;  Folly  as  it  Flies ;  and  Ginger  Snaps. 

About  the  time  of  her  engagement  with  Mr.  Bonner,  she  published, 
in  quick  succession,  two  novels,  Ruth  Hall,  and  Rosa  Clark,  which 
made  a  great  sensation,  and  sold  largely.  It  was  thought  at  that  time 
that  she  would  become  a  regular  novelist.  But  the  short,  pithy  essay 
was  evidently  her  forte,  and  she  wisely  adhered  to  it. 

Mary  Abigail  Dodge,  — "Gail  Hamilton." 

Mary  Abigail  Dodge,  1838  ,  known  as  "  Gail  Hamilton,"  is  one 

of  the  most  brilliant  contributors  to  current  literature.  Her  contribu- 
tions usually  appear  first  in  the  weekly  or  monthly  magazines,  and 
afterwards  are  collected  into  volumes.  The  best  known  of  these  are 
Gala  Days ;  Country  Living ;  Skirmishes  and  Sketches ;  Red  Letter 
Days  ;  Wool  Gathering ;  Woman's  Worth  and  Worthlessness. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      277 

George  W.  Curtis. 

George  William  Curtis,  1824  ,  is  known  all  over  the  land,  and 

for  that  matter  pretty  much  all  over  the  world,  or  at  least  wherever 
the  English  language  is  spoken,  by  his  writings  in  the  three  great 
magazines  published  by  the  Harpers.  He  is  the  political  editor  of 
the  Weekly,  fills  the  Easy  Chair  of  the  Monthly,  and  writes  Manners 
upon  the  Koad  for  the  Bazar.  His  writings  in  these  periodicals,  as 
any  one  may  see  by  a  glance  at  the  annual  table  of  contents,  would 
fill  at  least  a  score  of  volumes. 

Mr.  Curtis' s  separate  publications  have  been  the  following:  Nile 
Notes  of  a  Howadji;  The  Howadji  in  Syria;  Lotus-Eating;  The  Poti- 
phar  Papers ;  Prue  and  I ;  Trumps. 

W.  D.  Howells. 

William  Deane  Howells,  1837 ,  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 

like  a  good  many  others  of  the  craft,  began  his  career  as  a  practical 
printer,  and  has  worked  his  way  up  to  his  present  distinguished  posi- 
tion by  dint  of  labor  and  brains. 

Mr.  Howells's  publications  thus  far  are  the  following:  Poems  of  Two 
Friends  (W.  D.  Howells  and  J.  J.  Piatt) ;  No  Love  Lost,  a  Eomance 
of  Travel,  in  hexameter  verse ;  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln ;  Venetian 
Life ;  Italian  Journeys ;  and  Suburban  Sketches. 

Col.  T.  W.  Higginson. 

Colonel  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  1823  ,  has  been  a  fa- 
vorite contributor  to  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  His  volumes,  Out-Door 
Papers,  Malbone  an  Oldport  Romance,  and  others,  made  up  of  maga- 
zine articles,  are  held  in  high  esteem. 

J,^T.  Trowbridge. 

John  Townsend  Trowbridge,  1827  ,  a  favorite  contributor  to 

the  Atlantic  Monthly  and  the  Young  Folks,  and  at  present  editor  of 
the  latter  magazine,  is  known  also  as  the  author  of  the  popular  poem 
called  The  Vagabonds,  and  of  numerous  popular  tales  and  novels. 

The  following  are  some  of  his  best  known  publications :  The  Bright- 
hope  Series ;  Martin  Merivale,  His   ><j  Mark ;  Neighbor  Jackwood ; 
Cudjoe's  Cave*  Coupon  Bonds;  The  Vagabonds,  and  other  Poems. 
24 


278  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Gen.  Hill. 

Gen.  Daniel  Harvey  Hill,  1824 ,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the 

Confederate  army  during  tlie  war,  has  acquired  almost  equal  distinc- 
^tion  since  the  war  as  a  magazinist.  His  magazine,  The  Land  We 
Love,  is  said  to  be  the  most  successful,  as  it  is  the  ablest,  raonthly 
published  in  the  South. 

Gen.  Hill  has  published  the  following  works:  Essays  from  the 
Quarterly  Review ;  Essays  from  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Review ; 
Algebra.  His  chief  literary  work,  however,  has  been  done  in  the 
magazine  already  mentioned,  The  Land  We  Love. 

IV^    JOURNALISTS. 

James  Gordon  Bennett. 

James  Gordon  Bennett,  1800-1872,  the  founder  of  the  New  York 
Herald,  initiated  a  new  era  in  journalism.  He  was  followed,  indeed, 
in  close  succession  by  Mr.  Greeley,  and  at  a  somewhat  later  interval 
by  Mr.  Raymond.  But  to  Mr.  Bennett  clearly  belongs  the  honor  of 
making  the  first  movement  in  this  direction.  After  having  embarked 
in  the  enterprise,  he  made  it  his  one,  undivided  ambition,  to  achieve 
success  as  a  journalist,  and  he  realized,  in  this  respect,  the  full  extent 
of  his  ambition. 

Horace  Greeley. 

Horace  Greeley,  1811-1872,  divides  with  Mr.  Bennett  the  credit  of 
initiating  the  new  type  of  journalism  which  was  introduced  in  the  last 
generation.  Mr.  Greeley  had  other  ambitions.  But  the  main  work 
of  his  life  was  the  founding  of  the  New  York  Tribune. 

Besides  his  work  as  a  journalist,  or  rather  in  connection  with  it, 
and  as  its  legitimate  offshoots,  Mr.  Greeley  published  several  valuable 
works,  and  did  much  as  a  popular  lecturer.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  his  principal  separate  publications:  Hints  towards  Reforms; 
Glances  at  Europe ;  Art  and  Industry,  as  represented  in  the  Exhi- 
bition of  the  Crystal  Palace ;  Association  Discussed ;  What  I  Know 
of  Farming;  History  of  the  Struggle  for  Slavery  Extension;  The 
American  Conflict ;  Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life,  etc. 

Henry  J.  Raymond. 

Henry  Jarvis  Raymond,  LL.D.,  1820-1869,  acquired  great  and 
deserved  celebrity  as  the  founder  and  editor  of  the  New  York  Times. 


FROM     1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.       279 

Of  all  the  conspicuous  enterprises  in  that  line  which  have  marked 
the  last  thirty  years,  his  paper  was  the  only  one  which  was  successful 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  also  one  of  the  small,  though  now  grow- 
ing, number  of  eminent  journalists  who  had  a  regular  classical  edu- 
cation. 

The  New  York  Times  began  its  existence  in  September,  .1851,  and 
was  successful  from  the  first.  The  capital  invested  in  it  was  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  At  the  end  of  eight  years,  the  proprietors 
refused  for  their  property  the  offer  of  one  million  of  dollars.  This 
wonderful  success  was  undoubtedly  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  lit- 
erary and  intellectual  character  and  labors  of  Hr.  Kaymond.  He 
was  the  inspiring  soul  of  the  enterprise,  and.  from  the  time  of  its  in- 
ception to  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  its  editor-in-chief. 

Men  of  all  parties  award  Mr.  Raymond  the  praise  of  having  been 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  successful  of  American  journalists. 
He  did  a  great  service  to  the  profession  by  elevating  the  tone  of 
newspaper  discussion,  showing  by  his  own  example  that  it  was  pos- 
sible to  be  earnest  and  brilliant  without  transgressing  the  laws  of 
.decorum. 

His  literary  productiveness  was  prodigious.  His  articles,  though 
necessarily  dashed  off*  in  haste,  were  often  of  a  high  order  of  literary 
merit,  and  would  fill  a  large  number  of  volumes.  As  an  evidence 
of  his  power  of  concentration  and  of  rapid  production  in  cases  of 
emergency,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  Daniel  Webster,  the  Times  for  the  following  day,  October  25th, 
1852,  contained  a  biography  of  Webster,  twenty-six  columns  in  length, 
every  word  of  which  was  written  and  put  in  type  in  the  few  hours 
intervening  between  the  news  that  Webster  was  dying  and  the  hour 
that  the  paper  went  to  press.  Of  that  remarkable  biographical  sketch, 
sixteen  columns  were  written  by  Mr.  Raymond  himself,  in  a  space  of 
less  than  half  a  day  I 

W.  H.  Hurlbut. 

William  Henry  Hurlbut,  1827  ,  of  the  New  York  World,  is 

probably,  of  all  the  living  journalists  of  America,  who  have  made 
journalism  a  distinct  and  exclusive  profession,  the  one  most  highly 
educated,  as  he  is  the  most  brilliant  and  versatile.  Unlike  some  of 
our  other  leading  journalists,  he  has  had  every  advantage  which  edu- 
cation and  opportunity  could  bestow.  Besides  a  thorough  classical  and 
academic  training,  and  familiarity  with  the  languages  and  literatures 
of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe,  he  has  had  large  experience  of 


280  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

travel  and  of  intercourse  witli  men  in  all  the  great  centres  of  power. 
These  advantages  he  utilizes  to  the  last  degree,  and  he  throws  him- 
self into  the  work  of  writing,  on  the  exigencies  of  the  hour,  with  a 
fulness  of  resource  and  an  abandon  of  efifort  that  are  marvellous. 

Mr.  Hurlbut  has  published  several  volumes,  but  his  cliief  work  is 
what  he  has  done  and  is  doing  as  a  journalist. 

E.  L.  Godkin. 

Edwin  L.  Godkin,  1831  ,  editor  of  the  Nation,  represents  still 

another  element  of  American  journalism,  appreciably  different  from 
any  of  those  already  named.  In  a  paper  such  as  the  Nation,  news 
is  no  longer  king.  Independent  and  trustworthy  criticism  on  the 
living  issues  of  the  day  form  the  one  predominating  element  in  a 
periodical  of  this  kind,  and  for  such  a  function  Mr.  Godkin  has  ac- 
knowledged aptitudes  of  a  high  order. 

Beyond  a  few  articles  in  the  Quarterlies,  on  political  and  commer- 
cial topics,  Mr.  Godldn's  literary  work  has  been  done  wholly  for  the 
newspaper  press.  The  paper  with  which  he  is  more  particularly 
identified  as  an  American  writer  is  the  Nation,  already  mentioned. 

Parke  Godwin. 

Parke  Godwin,  LL.  D.,  1816 ,  has  acquired  distinction  in  sev- 
eral walks  of  authorship,  but  is  chiefly  known  by  his  connection  with 
the  New  York  Evening  Post,  of  which  he  has  been  at  different  times 
the  associate  editor. 

Mr.  Godwin,  besides  his  newspaper  and  magazine  articles,  is  the 
author  of  several  separate  volumes.  Among  them  may  be  named  the 
following:  A  Popular  View  of  the  Doctrines  of  Charles  Fourier;  Out 
of  the  Past,  a  collection  of  papers  on  literature  and  criticism ;  A  His- 
tory of  France.  The  work  last  named  is  tlie  one  on  which  he  has 
spent  most  labor  and  study.  It  is  not  a  mere  compilation,  or  rehash 
of  old  materials,  but  is  written  from  original  investigation,  and  in- 
tended as  a  classical  ivork.  The  first  volume,  giving  a  history  of 
Ancient  Gaul  down  to  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  was  published  in 
1860. 

John  R.  Thompson. 

John  K.  Thompson,  1823  ,  long  connected  with  the  Southern 

Literary  Messenger,  and  now  with  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  has 
done  good  service  to  the  periodical  literature  of  the  country. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      281 

George  D.  Prentice. 

George  Denison  Prentice,  1802-1870,  for  forty  years  editor  of  the 
Louisville  Journal,  holds  a  conspicuous  place  among  American  jour- 
nalists. 

Prentice's  witticisms  have  become  proverbial.  A  selection  of  them 
Avas  made  and  published  in  book-form  in  1859,  under  the  title  of 
Prenticeiana. 

George  Ripley. 

George  Ripley,  1802 ,  lias  done  service  to  American  literature 

in  many  ways.  He  was,  with  C.  A.  Dana,  associate  editor  of  Apple- 
ton's  American  Encyclopaedia.  But  his  chief  work  has  been  per- 
formed in  connection  with  the  New  York  Tribune,  where  for  the  last 
twenty-four  years  he  has  held  the  post  of  literary  critic.  His  separate 
publications  are  the  following :  Discourses  on  the  Philosophy  of  Reli- 
gion ;  Letters  to  Andrew  Norton  on  the  Latest  Form  of  Infidelity ; 
Specimens  of  Foreign  Literature  (edited),  14  vols.;  with  Bayard 
Taylor,  Hand-Book  of  Literature  and  the  Fine  Arts. 

Charles  A.  Dana. 

Charles  Anderson  Dana,  1819  ,  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun, 

has  been  prominent  as  a  journalist  for  more  than  twenty  years  past. 
He  was  associated  with  George  Ripley  in  editing  Appleton's  Cyclopje- 
dia,  and  he  edited  the  Household  Book  of  Poetry.  He  was  for  a  long 
time  prominent  in  the  editorial  management  of  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune ;  and  after  leaving  that  paper  he  assumed  the  editorship  of  the 
New  York  Sun,  in  which  position  he  still  continues. 

Charles  J.  Biddle. 

Major  Charles  John  Biddle,  1819  ,  editor  of  The  Age,  is  a 

leading  representative  of  journalism  in  Philadelphia. 

Morton  McMiehael. 

Morton  McMiehael,  1807 ,  the  veteran  of  the  North  American, 

has  been  a  prominent  journalist  and  magazine  writer  for  nearly  half 
a  century. 

John  W.  Forney. 

John  Weiss  Forney,  1817 ,  is  known  as  a  journalist  in  connec- 
tion with  his  two  papers,  the  Press  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Chroni- 
cle of  Washington. 
24* 


282  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

R.  Shelton  Mackenzie. 

Robert  Shelton  Mackenzie,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D.,  1809 ,  is  the  author 

of  several  works,  both  prose  and  verse,  but  is  chiefly  known  as  a  jour- 
nalist, and  in  connection  with  the  Philadelphia  Press. 

Of  his  separate  publications  the  following  are  the  chief:  Lays  of 
Palestine ;  Titian,  an  art  novel,  3  vols. ;  Mornings  at  Matlock,  a  col- 
lection of  stories,  3  vols. ;  Bits  of  Blarney ;  Life  of  Charles  Dickens ; 
Life  of  Walter  Scott.  Dr.  Mackenzie  has  edited  a  valuable  series  of 
works,  enriching  them  with  notes  from  his  own  recollections  and 
reading.  The  following  are  the  principal  works  which  he  has  edited: 
Noctes  Ambrosianse,  5  vols. ;  Dr.  Maginn's  Writings,  5  vols. ;  Shiel's 
Sketches  of  the  Irish  Bar,  2  vols. 

George  Alfred  Townsend. 

George  Alfred  Townsend,  1841 ,  the  "Gath"  of  the  Chicago 

Tribune,  has  had  a  large  and  varied  experience  as  a  War  Corre- 
spondent, both  in  Europe  and  America,  and  has  written  for  nearly  all 
the  leading  journals,  —  the  New  York  Herald,  World,  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  Chicago  Tribune,  and  others  of  like  standing. 

Since  1868  he  has  been  in  the  exclusive  employment  of  the  Chicago 
Tribune,  the  leading  newspaper  of  the  Northwest,  writing  both  edi- 
torial and  correspondence,  the  latter  over  the  signature  of  "Gath." 

Of  Mr.  Townsend's  separate  publications,  in  book  form,  the  follow- 
ing are  the  chief:  Campaigns  of  a  Non-Combatant  and  his  Eomaunt 
abroad  during  the  War;  the  Story  of  the  Conspiracy  against  the 
Lives  of  the  Executive  Officers  of  the  United  States  in  1865 ;  The 
New  World  compared  with  the  Old,  a  description  of  the  American 
Government,  its  institutions,  and  enterprises,  and  the  corresponding 
features  of  European  Governments,  England  and  France  particularly, 
a  book  of  more  than  700  octavo  pages ;  Lost  Abroad,  a  romaunt  and 
tale  of  American  character  in  Europe  during  our  Civil  War,  about 
500  pages. 

Whitelaw  Reid. 

Whitelaw  Reid,  1839  ,  Managing  Editor  of  the  New  York 

Tribune,  first  made  his  mark  in  literature  as  a  newspaper  Correspon- 
dent, under  the  signature  of  Agat3. 

Mr.  Reid  has  written  two  books :  one.  After  the  War,  gives  a  graphic 
account  of  the  condition  of  the  Sou^h  in  the  years  1865-6  ;  the  other, 
Ohio  in  the  War  (2  vols.,  8vo,  1000  pages  each),  besides  being  an 
eloquent  tribute  to  his  native  State,  was  prepared  with  such  pains- 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      283 

taking  and  elaborate  research  as  to  form  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
history  of  the  epoch. 

The  New  York  Associated  Press. 

The  Associated  Press  is  simply  a  partnership  for  the  collection  of 
news,  and  consists  of  the  proprietors  of  the  New  York  Herald,  Tribune, 
Times,  World,  Journal  of  Commerce,  Sun,  and  Express.  These  jour- 
nalists own  the  Institution,  and  theoretically  control  its  affiiifs,  though 
its  details,  in  fact,  are  managed  chiefly  by  its  General  Agent  (or 
Superintendent)  acting  under  the  immediate  direction  of  an  Executive 
Committee,  to  whom  the  General  Agent  appeals  for  advice  when 
necessary. 

Edward  Eggleston. 

Edward  Eggleston,  D.  D.,  1837  — :-,  lately  editor  of  the  New  York 
Independent,  and  now  of  Hearth  and  Home,  has  shown  eminent  fit- 
ness for  the  work  of  journalism,  and  has  been  uniformly  successful  in 
his  various  enterprises  in  that  line. 

Among  his  published  works  are  the  following :  Sunday-School  Con- 
ventions and  Institute ;  Sunday-School  Manual ;  Mr.  Blake's  Walking 
Stick,  a  Christmas  Story  for  Boys  and  Girls;  The  Book  of  Queer 
Stories ;  The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster.  All  these  books  have  been  pop- 
ular, and  have  sold  largely. 

Samuel  Irenaeus  Prime. 

Samuel  Irenajus  Prime,  D.  D.,  1812  ,  is  the  author  of  several 

interesting  volumes,  but  is  chiefly  known  by  his  writings  and  labors 
for  the  past  thirty-two  years  as  editor  of  the  New  York  Observer. 

Theodore  Tilton. 

Theodore  Tilton,  1 835  ,  is  the  author  of  several  volumes  which 

have  commanded  attention.  His  chief  work,  however,  thus  far,  has 
been  in  the  line  of  journalism,  for  many  years  in  the  New  York  Inde- 
pendent, and  now  in  his  own  paper,  The  Golden  Age. 


V.     THE  HUMORISTS. 

C.  F.  Browne.  —  ^' Artemus  \A7"ard." 

Charles  Foster  Browne,  1836-1867,  became  widely  known,  both  in 
England  and  America,  by  his  humorous  conception  of  Artemus  Ward, 


284  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

"the  genial  showman."  So  complete  was  his  conception  of  this  char- 
acter, and  his  representation  of  it  in  his  writings,  that  it  has  become 
difficult  for  the  public  to  realize  that  Arteraus  Ward  was  not  a  real, 
historical  personage,  or  that  there  was  behind  him  any  such  being  as 
the  writer,  Mr.  C.  F.  Browne.  Artemus  Ward  is  to  us  the  living  man, 
Mr.  Browne  the  myth.  This  species  of  writing  does  not  belong  to  the 
highest  kind  of  art.  Yet  there  is  in  it  a  peculiar  dramatic  power,  as 
clearly  creative  as  anything  in  Shakespeare. 

His  works  have  been  collected  into  the  following  volumes :  Artemus 
Ward,  his  Book;  Artemus  Ward,  his  Panorama;  Artemus  Ward 
among  the  Mormons ;  Artemus  Ward  among  the  Fenians ;  Artemus 
Ward  in  London.  The  work  entitled  Artemus  W^ard  in  England  was 
published  after  his  death,  and  contains  an  entertaining  biographical 
sketch. 

S.  L.  Clemens,  — '^^  Mark  Twain." 

Samuel  Langhorne  Clemens,  1835  ,  who  writes  under  the  name 

of  "  Mark  Twain,"  set  the  whole  continent  in  a  roar  by  his  volume, 
The  Innocents  Abroad,  giving  a  humorous  description  of  a  visit  to  the 
old  world  by  a  ship-load  of  American  excursionists. 

He  has  in  press  a  volume  of  Nevada  and  Californian  Experiences, 
of  the  same  size  and  style  as  Innocents  Abroad,  and  illustrated  in  the 
same  manner. 

B.  P.  Shillaber,  — '^Mrs.  Partington." 

Benjamin  P.  Shillaber,  1814  ,  by  his  conception  of  the  charac- 
ter of  Ruth  Partington,  has  entitled  himself  to  a  place  among  genuine 
humorists.  The  old  lady  has  become,  indeed,  in  the  public  mind,  a 
living  personage,  almost  as  distinctly  as  Artemus  Ward  himself. 

H.  W.  Shaw, -''Josh  Billings." 

Henry  W.  Shaw,  1818  ,  has  acquired  no  little  notoriety  as  a 

writer  and  "  lecturer,"  under  the  assumed  name  of  "  Josh  Billings." 
He  has  published,  in  book  form.  Sayings  of  Josh  Billings,  Josh  Bil- 
lings on  Ice,  Josh  Billings's  Farmei-'s  AUminax,  all  of  which  have  had 
an  enormous  circulation. 

Charles  G.  Leland. 

Charles  Godfrey  Leland,  1 824  ,  opened  a  new  vein  of  humor 

by  his  conception  of  Hans  Breitmann,  a  carousing,  but  shrewd,  money- 
loving  German  immigrant,  of  a  class  that  prevailed  to  a  considerable 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      285 

extent  before  and  during  the  war.  His  chief  publications  have  been 
the  Breitmann  Ballads,  Meister  Karl's  Sketch  Book,  and  The  Poetry 
and  Mystery  of  Dreams. 

Seba  Smith,  — '*^  Major  Jack  Downing.'* 

Seba  Smith,  1792-1868,  the  "Jack  Downing"  of  the  last  generation, 
belongs  chronologically  to  the  preceding  chapter.  But  his  writings 
seem  to  be  naturally  associated  with  those  of  the  humorists  now  under 
consideration,  and  therefore  he  is  mentioned  here.  He  is  best  known 
by  his  Letters  of  Major  Jack  Downing ;  Way  Down  East,  or  Portrai- 
tures of  Yankee  Life ;  My  Thirty  Years  out  of  the  Senate,  by  Major 
Jack  Downing. 

George  W.  Bagby. 

George  William  Bagby,  M.  D.,  1828  ,  of  Lynchburg,  Va.,  has 

an  extended  reputation  in  the  Southern  States,  and  is  not  unknown 
further  North,  by  his  amusing  Letters  to  Mozis  Addums,  and  by  other 
writings  of  a  humorous  character. 

Judge  Longstreet. 

Augustus  Baldwin  Longstreet,  LL.  D.,  1790-1870,  was  among  the 
most  successful  humorists  of  his  day.  His  Georgia  Scenes,  for  broad, 
irresistible  fun,  has  rarely  been  equalled. 

VI.    MISCELLANEOUS  WRITERS. 

Bayard  Taylor. 

Bayard  Taylor,  1825  ,  has  excelled,  almost  equally,  in  so  many 

different  lines  of  literary  effort,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  assign  him  to 
any  one  department  of  letters.  He  is  eminent  as  a  Traveller  and  a 
writer  of  Travels,  as  a  Newspaper  Correspondent,  as  a  Novelist,  as 
a  Poet,  as  a  Poetical  Translator.  There  seems  no  resource,  there- 
fore, but  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  Miscellaneous  writers,  although 
this  association  separates  him  somewhat  from  those  with  whom  he  is 
most  associated  in  the  public  mind. 

His  principal  books  of  travel  are  Views  a-Foot,  El  Dorado,  A  Voy- 
age on  the  Nile,  The  Lands  of  the  Saracen,  A  Visit  to  India,  China, 
and  Japan. 

His  principal  novels  are  Hannah  Thurston,  John  Godfrey's  For- 
tunes, and  Joseph  and  his  Friends. 


286  AMERICAJ^     LITERATURE. 

Of  poetry  he  has  published  The  Picture  of  St.  John,  a  metrical 
romance  ;  Poems  of  the  Orient ;  Poems  of  Home  Travel. 

The  latest  and  greatest,  however,  of  Mr.  Taylor's  poetic  efforts  is 
the  translation  of  Goethe's  Faust.  This  has  met  with  the  warmest 
praise  from  Americans,  English,  and  Germans.  Even  those  who  are 
most  critical  in  their  judgments  upon  translations  cannot  withhold 
from  Taylor's  Faust  their  candid  approval.  It  is  indeed  a  most  re- 
fined and  scholarly  work,  and  places  Mr.  Taylor  on  the  bench  of 
honor  by  the  side  of  Longfellow  and  Bryant. 


Gen.  D.  H.  Strother,  —  ^' Porte  Crayon." 

Gen.  David  Hunter  Strother,  1816  ,  of  Berkeley  Springs,  Va., . 

the  "  Porte  Crayon "  of  Harper's  Magazine,  is  known  to  all  classes 
of  readers  by  his  genial  pen-and-pencil  sketches  of  life  and  scenery 
in  the  witching  mountain  scenery  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

Epes  Sargent. 

Epes  Sargent,  1812  ,  is  known  as  the  author  of  an  admirable 

series  of  Keaders  and  Speakers,  as  a  critical  editor  of  some  of  the 
standard  English  classics,  and  as  the  author  of  numerous  original 
works,  both  prose  and  verse,  of  a  high  character. 

Henry  Giles. 

Rev.  Henry  Giles,  1809  ,  acquired  great  celebrity  twenty  years 

ago,  or  more,  as  a  public  lecturer,  chiefly  on  literary  and  historical 
topics.  These  lectures,  with  other  of  his  writings,  have  since  been 
published. 

Professor  La  Borde. 

Maximilian  La  Borde,  M.  D.,  1804 ,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and 

Literature  in  the  University  of  South  Carolina,  has  been  for  thirty 
years  conspicuously  associated  with  the  fortunes  of  that  important 
State  institution.  Dr.  La  Borde  has  published  three  books:  Introduc- 
tion to  Physiology;  Story  of  Lethea  and  Verona;  History  of  South 
Carolina  College.  The  work  last  named  is  the  chief  literary  work  of 
his  life,  and  is  commended  in  the  highest  terms  for  the  thoroughness 
of  its  information,  and  for  its  calm,  philosophical,  and  conscientious 
spirit. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      287 

Henry  Barnard- 
Henry  Barnard,  LL.  D.,  1811 ,  has  acquired  a  national  reputa- 
tion by  his  labors  in  the  cause  of  popular  education,  and  by  his  nu- 
merous and  important  publications  on  that  subject.  The  principal  of 
these  are  the  following :  School  Architecture ;  Normal  Schools  in  the 
United  States  and  Europe;  National  Education  in  Europe;  History 
of  Education  in  Connecticut;  Hints  and  Methods  for  the  Use  of 
Teachers. 

John  Ogden. 

John  Ogden,  A.  M.,  1824 ,  of  the  Ohio  Central  Normal  School, 

has  done  good  service  in  the  cause  of  education,  both  by  his  labors  as 
a  teacher,  and  by  his  writings,  particularly  by  his  work  on  The  Sci- 
ence of  Education  and  Art  of  Teaching. 

J.  P.  Wiekershana. 

James  Pyle  Wickersham,  LL,  D.,  1825  ,  State  Superintendent 

of  Public  Schools  of  Pennsylvania,  has  been  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful of  American  educational  workers.  He  has  been  a  practical 
teacher ;  he  has  had  on  a  large  scale  the  training  of  teachers ;  he  has 
for  several  years  directed  the  educational  system  of  one  of  the  largest 
States  in  the  Union ;  he  has  written  several  volumes  on  the  work  of 
education,  and  in  each  department  of  effort  he  has  been  found  equal 
to  the  occasion. 

Besides  numerous  printed  Addresses,  and  contributions  to  educa- 
tional journals,  Mr.  Wickersham  has  published  two  books,  which  have 
had  a  large  sale,  and  have  taken  their  place  among  the  standard  works 
of  the  profession :  School  Economy,  and  Methods  of  Instruction. 


W.  Swinton. 

William  Swinton,  1834 ,  Professor  of  English  Literature  in  the 

University  of  California,  first  acquired  general  notoriety  as  a  War 
Correspondent.  Since  the  close  of  the  war,  he  has  returned  to  liter- 
ary pursuits,  where  he  is  winning  fresh  laurels. 

Mr.  Swinton  has  published  The  Twelve  Decisive  Battles  of  the 
War,  an  octavo  volume  of  500  pages,  and  has  begun  a  series  of  educa- 
tional text-books,  among  which  two  school  Histories  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  a  Word-Book  of  Spelling,  a  Manual  of  Word 
Analysis,  and  an  English  Grammar  have  already  been  published. 


288  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Dr.  Alden. 

Joseph  Alden,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1807  ,  of  the  New  York  State 

Normal  School  at  Albany,  has  long  been  prominently  before  the  pub- 
lic as  a  leading  educator  and  writer  on  educational  topics.  Dr.  Alden's 
services,  both  literary  and  administrative,  entitle  him  to  the  high 
rank  which  he  holds  as  the  head  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  strongest  of 
our  State  institutions  for  the  education  and  training  of  teachers. 

Dr.  Alden,  besides  his  large  work  as  an  educator,  has  been  diligent 
in  the  use  of  his  pen,  writing  almost  constantly  for  the  periodical  press, 
and  sending  out  at  intervals  instructive  volumes  for  the  benefit  of  his 
generation.  His  earlier  works  were  mostly  for  the  young.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned,  The  Example  of  Washington ;  The  Patriot's 
Fireside ;  Religion  in  Fashionable  Life,  etc.  Among  his  later  writ- 
ings are :  Elements  of  Intellectual  Philosophy ;  The  Sciince  of  Gov- 
ernment in  Connection  with  American  Institutions,  a  text-book  for 
academies  and  colleges ;  The  Citizen's  Manual,  being  an  abridgment 
of  the  preceding  and  intended  for  common  schools ;  Christian  Ethics, 
or  the  Science  of  Duty. 

VII.     NOVELS    AND    TALES. 

Hawthorne. 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  1804-1864,  stands  by  general  consent  at  the 
head  of  the  novelists  of  the  present  period.  His  Scarlet  Letter,  House 
of  the  Seven  Gables,  and  Marble  Faun  place  him  beside  the  great 
masters,  not  of  the  age  only,  but  of  all  time. 

Hawthorne  is  thought  by  many  to  have  been  the  greatest  creative 
genius  of  America.  Certainly  no  other  writer  has  succeeded  so  com- 
pletely in  spiritualizing  American  life,  in  pervading  it  with  the  inner 
vitality  of  passion  and  reflection.  His  characters  are  apparently  real, 
and  yet  separated  from  the  commonplace  by  an  impassable  gulf  The 
reader  feels  himself  transported  into  a  new  world,  under  the  guidance 
of  a  sombre  and  powerful  genius.  His  style,  indeed,  is  morbid,  at 
least  in  its  general  effects.  It  produces  the  impression  of  a  life  utterly 
vain  and  hopeless,  with  a  dark  background  of  avenging  fate.  Yet  as 
a  master  of  style,  he  is  inimitable.  No  one  ever  wrote  purer  English 
or  used  words  more  delicately  and  powerfully. 

Theodore  Winthrop. 
Theodore  Winthrop,  1 828-1861,  a  young  man  of  brilliant  promise, 
is  known  chiefly  by  his  posthumous  novel  of  Cecil  Dreeme. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      289 

Henry  D.  Thoreau. 

Henry  D.  Thoreau,  1817-1862,  was  a  thorough  humorist,  in  the  old 
English  sense  of  a  man  who  indulges  in  humors.  One  of  his  "  humors  " 
was  to  make  long  rambles,  usually  alone,  through  out-of-the-way  dis- 
tricts, and  give  minute  descriptions  of  what  he  saw,  and  his  own 
thoughts  upon  it.  His  principal  Avorks,  all  produced  in  this  way,  are 
Walden,  or  Life  in  the  Woods;  Excursions  in  Field  and  Forest;  The 
Maine  Woods ;  Cape  Cod ;  Walking ;  Autumnal  Tints ;  Wild  Flowers, 
etc.  With  Thoreau's  wonderfully  acute  power  of  observation,  and  his 
fine  taste  and  skill  in  word-painting,  he  might  have  made  a  first-class 
naturalist.     His  works  are  to  the  last  degree  original  and  quaint. 

Richard  Henry  Dana,  Jr. 

Eichard  Henry  Dana,  Jr.,  LL.  D.,  1815  ,  son  of  the  poet  and 

essayist  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  though  not  following  lit- 
erature as  a  profession,  has  attained  no  little  eminence  in  that  line. 
His  Two  Years  before  the  Mast,  in  particular,  has  had  an  uncommon 
popularity. 

Donald  G.  Mitchell,  — '^  Ik  Marvel." 

Donald  Grant  Mitchell,  1822  ,  better  known  as  "  Ik  Marvel," 

has  charmed  his  countrymen  by  the  exquisite  sketches  of  life  contained 
in  the  Keveries  of  a  Bachelor  and  in  Dream  Life. 

Richard  B.  Kimball. 

Eichard  Burleigh  Kimball,  1816  ,  has  published  a  number  of 

works,  of  which  the  best  known  is  St.  Ledger,  or  The  Threads  of  Life. 

J.  R.  Gilmore,  — ''Edmund  Kirke." 

James  E.  Gilmore,  1823  ,  under  the  name  of  "  Edmund  Kirke," 

became  widely  known  during  the  war  by  his  novels  descriptive  of  the 
conflict,  especially  by  his  book,  "  Among  the  Pines,"  the  sale  of  which 
was  very  large. 

"W.  Gilmore  Simms. 

William  Gilmore  Simms,  LL.D.,  1806-1870,  of  Charleston,  S.  C, 

was  one  of  the  most  prolific  of  American  romancers.     His  novels  are 

mostly  founded  on  local  traditions,  giving  them  an  historical  character 

and  value,  and  have  been  in  good  repute.     Some  of  the  best  known  of 

25  T 


290  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

these  are  the  following :  The  Partisan ;  Katharine  Walton ;  The 
Scout ;  The  Black  Eiders  of  the  Congaree ;  The  Foragers ;  the  Wig- 
wam and  the  Cabin;  The  Damsel  of  Darien;  The  Yemassee;  The 
Lily  and  the  Totem;  Guy  Rivers;  Border  Beagles;  The  Golden 
Christmas,  etc. 

John  Esten  Cooke. 

John  Esten  Cooke,  1830  ,  has  done  for  the  historical  traditions 

of  Virginia  what  Simms  did  for  those  of  the  Carolinas,  and  Cooper  for 
those  of  the  North  and  West.  Some  of  Mr.  Cooke's  historical  novels, 
such  as  The  Virginia  Comedians,  and  Henry  St.  John,  are  the  best 
and  truest  pictures  anywhere  to  be  found  of  Virginia  in  the  olden  time. 
He  has  shown  himself  an  able  biographer  also  by  his  Lives  of  Stone- 
wall Jackson  and  Lee,  and  he  contributed  actively  in  other  ways  to 
the  literature  of  the  war. 

Philip  Pendleton  Cooke. 

Philip  Pendleton  Cooke,  1816-1850,  though  known  chiefly  as  a 
poet,  yet  wrote  excellent  prose.  There  are,  moreover,  other  reasons, 
connected  with  his  name  and  the  family  traditions,  for  not  separating 
him  from  his  younger  brother,  J.  Esten  Cooke.  The  volume  by  which 
Philip  Pendleton  Cooke  is  best  known  is  The  Froissart  Ballads,  con- 
taining among  other  pieces  the  exquisite  poem  of  Florence  Vane. 

R.  M.  Bird. 

Robert  Montgomery  Bird,  M.  D.,  1805-1854,  is  favorably  known  as 
a  writer  of  romantic  fiction,  as  well  as  joint  proprietor  and  editor  of 
the  Philadelphia  North  American.  His  best  known  novels  were  The 
Hawks  of  Hawk  Hollow,  a  tradition  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Nick  of 
the  Woods. 

Charles  J.  Peterson. 

Charles  J.  Peterson,  1818  ,  proprietor  and  editor  of  Peterson's 

Ladies'  Magazine,  has  written  several  popular  novels,  besides  some 
historical  and  biographical  works  of  value.  His  best  known  works 
are  The  Military  Heroes  of  the  United  States,  a  work  for  popular  read- 
ing, illustrated,  in  two  large  volumes,  octavo,  and  the  novels,  Kate 
Aylesford,  and  T'he  Old  Stone  Mansion. 

Herman  Melville. 

Herman  Melville,  1819  ,  is  the  author  of  several  works  of  fic- 
tion, describing  wild  adventures  among  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  The 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      291 

following  are  the  principal :  Typee,  or  Four  Months  in  the  Marque- 
sas ;  Omoo ;  Mardi,  and  a  Voyage  Thither ;  Eedburn,  or  the  Confes- 
sions of  a  Gentleman's  Son  in  the  Merchant  Service. 

T.  S.  Arthur. 

Timothy  Shay  Arthur,  1809  ,  is  one  of  the  most  prolific  writers 

that  our  current  literature  presents.  Nearly  all  his  writings  are 
novels  and  tales. 

Most  of  his  works  have  appeared  originally  in  serial  form,  either  in 
Arthur's  Magazine,  of  which  he  is  the  editor  and  proprietor,  or  in 
some  similar  publication.  They  consist  almost  exclusively  of  tales, 
are  of  a  popular  character,  representing  American  domestic  life,  and 
many  of  them  are  intended  particularly  for  the  young.  Some  of  his 
best-written  tales,  as  Ten  Nights  in  a  Bar-Eoom,  and  Six  Nights  with 
the  Washingtonians,  are  written  in  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  total  ab- 
stinence. 

W.  T.  Adams,  — ''Oliver  Optic." 

William  T.  Adams,  1822  ,  is  the  most  prolific,  and  the  best 

writer  that  we  have,  of  story-books  for  boys.  His  name,  '*  Oliver 
Optic"  is  a  key  to  one  main  element  of  his  popularity.  He  is  one 
who  has  used  his  eyes.  He  writes  of  what  he  has  seen.  Another  source 
of  his  popularity  is  his  warm  sympathy  with  the  young.  One  cannot 
read  a  page  of  liis  writings  without  seeing  that  there  is  no  make- 
believe  in  this  matter.  The  author  himself  really  enjoys  the  boyish 
scenes  which  he  creates.  His  long  experience  as  a  teacher  has  proba- 
bly helped  him  on  this  point.  At  all  events,  he  seems  to  have  an 
instinctive  knowledge  of  what  will  interest  young  people,  and  espe-, 
cially  boys.  As  a  caterer  to  boyish  tastes,  and  at  the  same  time  an 
educator  of  those  tastes  to  high  standards  of  judging  and  acting,  Mr. 
Adams  is  without  an  equal  at  the  present  time. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  his  publications :  Boat  Club  Series,  6  vols. ; 
Woodville  Series,  6  vols. ;  Army  and  Navy  Series,  6  vols. ;  Riverdale 
Stories,  6  vols. ;  Starry  Flag  Series,  6  vols. ;  Lake  Shore  Series,  6  vols. ; 
Upward  and  Onward,  6  vols. ;  Young  America  Abroad,  first  Series,  6 
vols.,  second  Series,  2  vols.;  Hatchie,  1  vol.;  In-Doors  and  Out,  1 
vol. ;  The  Way  of  the  World,  1  vol. ;  Our  Standard  Bearer,  1  vol. ;  A 
Spelling-Book  for  Advanced  Classes,  1  vol.  —  total,  55  volumes. 

Jacob  Abbott. 

Eev.  Jacob  Abbott,  1803  ,  is  a  voluminous  and  popular  writer. 

Few  writers  have  excelled  him  as  a  caterer  for  the  wants  of  the  young 


292  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

mind,  and  his  works  in  this  line  entitle  him  to  a  high  rank.  They 
are  exceedingly  numerous.  The  following  are  the  principal:  The 
Eollo  Books,  28  vols. ;  The  Franconia  Stories,  10  vols. ;  Marco  Paul's 
Adventures,  6  vols.;  Harper's  Story  Books,  36  vols.;  Little  Learner 
Series,  5  vols. ;  Juno  and  Georgie  Series,  4  vols. ;  and  a  large  number 
of  biographies  of  distinguished  sovereigns.  His  principal  works  for 
adult  readers  are :  The  Young  Christian,  The  Corner  Stone,  The  Way 
to  do  Good,  and  The  Teacher.  Nearly  all  these  works  have  been  re- 
printed abroad,  and  translated  into  various  foreign  languages,  and 
their  influence  has  been  very  great. 

John  S.  C.  Abbott. 

Kev.  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  1 805  ,  brother  of  Jacob,  is  likewise  a 

prolific  writer.  His  Kings  and  Queens  fill  six  volumes.  He  has 
written  several  works  on  Napoleon  and  the  French  Revolution,  in  all 
of  which  he  is  the  apologist  and  advocate  of  the  Bonapartes  to  a  de- 
gree which  has  subjected  him  to  severe  criticism.  The  works  of  his 
which  have  received  the  commendation  of  all  parties  are  The  Mother 
at  Home,  and  The  Child  at  Home. 

Harriet  Beeeher  Stowe. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Elizabeth  Beecher  Stowe,  1812 ,  is  one  of  the 

ablest  and  most  brilliant  of  the  Beecher  family,  and  probably  the 
ablest  and  most  successful  living  American  novelist,  since  the  death 
of  Hawthorne.  Her  best  known  and  most  characteristic  novels  are 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  The  Minister's  Wooing,  Old  Town  Folks,  and 
Agnes  of  Sorrento.  Her  stories  for  children,  like  those  in  Queer 
Little  People,  are  in  some  respects  better  even  than  her  novels.  The 
House  and  Home  Papers,  and  The  Chimney  Corner,  show  her  to  be 
possessed  of  remarkable  power  as  an  essayist. 

The  Warners. 

The  sisters  Susan  and  Anna  Warner  gained  a  wide  celebrity  by  the 
publication  of  a  series  of  semi-religious  novels,  which  had  an  extraor- 
dinary sale.  Those  best  known  are  The  Wide  Wide  World,  and 
Queechy,  by  Susan;  Dollars  and  Cents,  and  My  Brother's  Keeper,  by 
Anna ;  and  Say  and  Seal,  the  joint  production  of  the  two.  They  have 
also  written,  either  jointly  or  separately,  a  number  of  very  attractive 
books  for  the  young.  Susan  wrote  under  the  name  of  "  Elizabfeth 
Wetherell,"  and  Anna  under  the  name  of  "  Amy  Lothrop." 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.     293 

Mrs.  Anna  Cora  MoAA/'att  Ritchie. 

Mrs.  Anna  Cora  Mo  watt  Ritchie,  1820-1870,  achieved  her  chief  dis- 
tinction as  an  actress.  She  won  laurels  also  as  a  writer.  She  was 
the  author  of  various  novels,  plays,  poems,  and  sketches,  but  is  best 
known  in  letters  by  the  Autobiography  of  an  Actress. 

Mrs.  Sara  J.  Lippineott,  —  ^*^  Grace  Greenwood." 

Mrs.  Sara  Jane  (Clarke)  Lippincott,  1823  ,  gained  much  eclat, 

under  the  name  of  "  Grace  Greenwood,"  as  a  writer  of  tales  and 
sketches  for  the  magazines.  She  has  published  several  volumes.  Her 
latest  efforts  have  been  directed  mainly  to  writing  for  the  young,  and 
she  edits  a  juvenile  magazine  called  The  Little  Pilgrim. 

Harriet  Prescott  Spofford. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Elizabeth   Prescott  Spofford,   1835  ,  is  known 

chiefly  by  a  work  of  fiction,  called  The  Amber  Gods. 

Miss  Aleott. 

Miss  Louisa  May  Aleott,  1832  ,  rose  suddenly  to  fame,  in  1867, 

by  the  publication  of  a  novel  called  Little  Women.  This  was  followed 
in  rapid  succession  by  The  Old  Fashioned  Girl,  Little  Men,  and 
other  stories  conceived  in  the  same  vein,  and  all  equally  popular. 

Anna  Dickinson. 

Anna  Elizabeth  Dickinson,  1842  ,  is  chiefly  known  as  a  lec- 
turer. She  has  published  one  book,  What  Answer,  which  was  well 
received. 

Mrs.  E.  Oakes  Smith. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Oakes  Smith,  1806  ,  is  the  author  of  numerous 

tales  and  novels  which  have  given  her  a  deserved  celebrity.  She  has 
been  conspicuous  as  a  writer  for  nearly  thirty  years.  During  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  period  she  was  also  engaged  to  some  extent  as  a  public 
lecturer. 

The  following  are  some  of  her  best  known  works :  Eiches  without 
Wings;    The  Sinless  Child  and  Other  Poems;    The  Lost  Angel; 
Woman  and  her  Needs. 
25* 


294  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

Caroline  Chesebro. 

Caroline  Chesebro, ,  is  the  author  of  several  well-written 

works  of  fiction,  of  which  the  latest  and  most  powerful  is  The  Foe  in 
the  Household. 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Holmes. 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Holmes, ,  is  the  author  of  a  large  number 

of  tales  and  novels,  which  have  been  very  popular.  The  following  are 
the  titles  of  some  of  her  publications :  Lena  Rivers ;  Darkness  and 
Daylight ;  Tempest  and  Sunshine ;  Marian  prey ;  Meadow  Brook ; 
English  Orphans. 

Mrs.  Terhune,  — "Marion  Harland." 

Mary  Virginia  Terhune, ,  in  1854  acquired  a  high  repu- 
tation -by  her  novel.  Alone,  written  under  the  assumed  name  of  "  Mar- 
ion Harland."  She  has  written  many  other  novels  since  that  time, 
and  with  a  uniformity  of  excellence  that  is  remarkable.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  titles  of  some  of  them:  Hidden  Path;  Husbands  and 
Homes ;  Euby's  Husband ;  Phemie's  Temptation. 

Mrs.  Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 

Mrs.  Augusta  Evans  Wilson, ,  of  Mobile,  has  published 

several  novels,  characterized  by  great  power  of  originality.  These 
are  Beulah,  Macaria,  and  St.  Elmo.  There  is  much  in  the  vigorous 
conception  of  these  works  to  remind  the  reader  of  Jane  Eyre  and  Vil- 
lette ;  and  the  writer  has  been  called  by  her  admirers  the  American 
Charlotte  Bronte.  ^ 

Mrs.  Warfield  and  Mrs.  Lee. 

Mrs.  Catharine  Anne  Warfield,  1817 ,  and  Mrs.  Eleanor  Percy 

Lee,  1820-1850,  gained  some  reputation  thirty  years  ago  by  a  volume 
of  Poems  by  Two  Sisters.  The  surviving  sister  has  within  a  few  years 
gained  a  high  name  as  a  writer  of  fiction,  especially  by  her  novel.  The 
Household  of  Bouverie. 

Mrs.  A.  D.  T.  Whitney. 

Mrs.  Adeline  D.  T.  Whitney,  1824  ,  has  made  a  most  favor- 
able impression  as  a  writer  of  tales.  Faith  Gartney's  Girlhood  espe- 
cially has  been  a  general  favorite.     Among  her  other  works  may 


FROM     1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.       295 

be  named :  Mother  Goose  for  Grown  Folks ;  A  Summer  in  Leslie 
Goldthwaite's  Life ;  Patience  Strong's  Outings ;  We  Girls. 

Mrs.  Baker, —^' Madeline  Leslie." 

Mrs.  Harriette  Newell  Woods  Baker,  1815  ,  known  in  letters 

almost  exclusively  by  the  assumed  name  of  "  Mrs.  Madeline  Leslie," 
is  unequalled  as  a  writer  of  Sunday-School  story-books.  Her  pro- 
ductiveness has  been  prodigious.  Her  books,  too,  have  had  a  uni- 
formity of  excellence  and  an  unflagging  popularity  as  remarkable  as 
their  number.  She  has  published,  up  to  this  time,  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty  distinct  volumes,  and  the  annual  sales  vary  from 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  half  a  million. 

Mrs.  Sadlier. 

Mrs.  James  Sadlier,  1820  ,  of  New  York,  has  written  a  large 

number  of  attractive  books,  suited  to  the  use  of  Catholic  families,  and 
has  done  in  various  ways  effective  service  to  the  church  of  her  affec- 
tions. She  is  also  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Catholic  journals,  and 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  New  York  Tablet. 


VIII.     HISTORIANS. 

Preseott. 

William  Hickling  Preseott,  LL.  D.,  1796-1850,  is  universally  accept- 
ed as  a  classical  historian  of  the  liighest  order.  His  chief  works,  the 
History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  History  of  Philip  II.,  the  Con- 
quest of  Mexico,  and  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  liave  obtained  universal 
acceptance  as  models  of  historical  composition. 

As  an  historian,  Preseott  stands  in  the  foremost  rank  of  narrators. 
He  is  surpassed  by  others  in  vigor  of  thought,  and  in  philosophic  acu- 
men. But  no  one  has  exceeded  him  in  faithfulness  and  patience  of 
investigation,  in  clearness  and  picturesqueness  of  description,  and 
especially  in  charity  towards  the  blunders  and  bigotry  of  bygone 
generations. 

Bancroft.   . 

George  Bancroft,  LL.  B.,  1800  ,  has  clearly  the  honor  of  being 

thus  far  the  ablest  historian  of  the  affairs  of  his  own  country.  His 
History  of  the  United  States  has  not  escaped  criticism.  Yet  no  one 
has  hesitated  to  accord  to  it  a  place  among  the  great  historical  works 


296  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

of  the  age.  In  comprehensiveness  of  plan,  in  fulness  of  detail,  in  ac- 
curacy of  research,  and  elaborateness  of  finish,  and  even  in  the  minor 
graces  of  style  and  diction,  'Bancroft's  work  may  be  safely  quoted  as 
among  the  standard  histories  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Bancroft's  great  work,  The  History  of  the  United  States  from 
the  Discovery  of  the  American  Continent,  has  now  proceeded  to  the 
ninth  volume.  The  first  three  volumes  are  occupied  with  the  Settle- 
ment of  the  Colonies,  the  next  three  with  the  Estrangement  from  the 
Mother  Country,  and  the  next  three  with  the  War  for  Independence. 
Tlie  work  as  a  whole  is  undoubtedly  the  ablest,  as  it  is  the  most  com- 
prehensive work  on  the  subject,  and  it  is  accepted  for  the  most  part  as 
the  standard  authority.  It  is  written  with  great,  perhaps  excessive 
care  as  to  the  style,  the  author  not  having  had  the  skill  always  to  con- 
ceal his  art.  His  delineations  of  character,  his  descriptions  of  scenery, 
and  his  artistic  grouping  of  details  are  often  in  the  highest  style  of 
historical  eloquence.  But  his  narrative  seldom  flows  with  the  ex- 
quisite simplicity  and  clearness  which  are  the  charm  of  Prescott's 
pages. 

Tieknor. 

George  Tieknor,  LL.  D.,  1791-1871,  acquired  a  permanent  and  hon- 
orable place  in  literature  by  his  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  and 
his  Life  of  Prescott. 

Motley. 

John  Lothrop  Motley,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D,  1814  ,  has  followed  in 

one  respect  the  example  of  Prescott,  and  has  made  a  select  and  im- 
portant portion  of  European  history  his  own.  His  Rise  of  the  Dutch 
Eepublic,  and  his  History  of  the  United  Netherlands,  have  unques- 
tionably filled  a  great  hiatus  in  the  history  of  the  Old  World. 

Kirk. 

John  Foster  Kirk,  1824  ,  by  his  History  of  Charles  the  Bold, 

Duke  of  Burgundy,  has,  in  like  manner  with  Prescott  and  Motley, 
taken  an  important  topic  in  European  history,  and  so  treated  it  as  to 
make  the  subject  henceforth  his  own. 

Edward  A.  Pollard. 

Edward  A.  Pollard,  1838-1872,  has  been  the  ablest,  the  most  in- 
dustrious, and  the  most  conspicuous  historian  of  the  Confederacy. 
His  chief  work,  The  Lost  Cause,  a  large  octavo  of  750  pages,  is  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  literature  of  the  times. 


FKOM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      297 

John  Gilmary  Shea. 

John  Gilmary  Shea,  LL.  D.,  1824  ,  has  been  a  diligent  student 

of  history,  and  particularly  of  that  relating  to  Catholic  institutions, 
bibliography,  and  literature  in  the  United  States,  and  has  made  valu- 
able contributions  to  historical  literature,  both  as  an  original  author, 
and  as  a  laborious  and  critical  editor. 

The  following  are  some  of  his  principal  publications :  Discovery 
and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  History  of  the  Catholic 
Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States ;  Early  Voy- 
age Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi ;  Perils  of  the  Ocean  and  Wilder- 
ness ;  Bibliography  of  American  Catholic  Bibles  and  Testaments ;  The 
Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Some  of  his  labors  as  translator  and  editor  have  been  as  follows; 
Charlevoix's  New  France,  translated  and  edited,  6  vols. ;  Memoirs  and 
Kelations  concerning  the  French  Colonies  in  North  America,  a  series 
of  manuscripts  collected  and  edited  by  him,  in  20  vols. ;  The  Library 
of  American  Linguistics,  a  series  of  Grammars  and  Dictionaries  of  the 
Indian  Languages,  13  vols. 

Joseph  Thomas. 

Joseph  Thomas,  LL.  D., ,  of  Philadelphia,  has  made  the 

reading  public  of  every  name  his  debtors  by  his  Gazetteer,  and  his 
Biographical  Dictionary.  Better  works  of  the  kind  have  never  been 
published  in  English.  The  latter  especially  is  a  marvel  of  accuracy, 
and  of  judicious  condensation.  Most  large  works  of  this  kind  being 
produced  by  many  hands,  want  uniformity  of  treatment,  and  are  very 
unequal,  —  good  on  some  points,  poor  on  others.  Dr.  Thomas's  book 
seems  to  be  entirely  his  own,  and  is  remarkably  homogeneous.  The 
same  careful,  conscientious  hand  is  traceable  in  every  article,  big  or 
little.  It  is,  to  a  most  unusual  degree,  uniform  throughout,  and  uni- 
formly good. 

Mrs.  E.  F.  Ellet. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fries  Ellet,  1818  ,  has  contributed  largely,  in 

various  ways,  to  literature,  but  has  achieved  her  most  lasting  success 
in  the  line  of  biographical  and  historical  composition.  From  the  long 
list  of  her  works  the  following  maybe  named  :  Evenings  at  Woodlawn  ; 
Queens  of  American  Society ;  The  Domestic  History  of  the  American 
Revolution ;  The  Women  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  last- 
named  work  is  the  one  by  which  she  has  won  her  highest  laurels. 
Much  of  the  material  was  collected  from  private  and  original  sources, 


298  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

making  the  work  a  positive  addition  to  the  national  history,  and  the 
narrative  and  coloring  are  given  with  rare  artistic  skill.  The  work 
has  passed  through  many  editions,  and  deserves  to  become  a  part 
of  the  permanent  literary  wealth  of  the  nation. 

Lossing. 

Benson  John  Lossing,  1813  ,  by  his  pictorial  books  of  various 

kinds,  has  not  only  given  a  special  interest  to  many  places  memorable 
for  their  historical  associations,  but  he  has  preserved  from  destruction 
many  important  facts  and  traditions  connected  with  the  national  liis- 
tory.  His  principal  works  are :  Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  Revolu- 
tion; Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War  of  the  United  States;  History 
ofthe  Warof  1812. 

IX.     WRITERS    ON    POLITICS  AND   POLITICAL 
ECONOMY. 

Henry  C.  Carey. 

Henry  Charles  Carey,  1793  ,  is  the  ablest,  as  well  as  the  most 

voluminous,  writer  that  we  have  on  the  subject  of  political  economy. 
He  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  a  protective  tariff,  and  has  devoted  his 
energies  to  this  cause  with  unflagging  zeal  for  nearly  forty  years. 

His  principal  works  are  the  following :  The  Principles  of  Political 
Economy ;  Essay  on  the  Rate  of  Wages ;  The  Credit  System  in  France, 
Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States ;  The  Past,  the  Present,  and  the 
Future ;  The  Harmony  of  Interests,  Agricultural,  Manufacturing,  and 
Commercial ;  The  Principles  of  Social  Science. 

Charles  Sumner. 

Charles  Sumner,  LL.D.,1811  ,  for  many  years  a  leading  sena- 
tor of  the  United  States,  is  distinguished  as  a  political  orator.  His 
Orations,  chiefly  on  political  topics,  fill  eight  large  volumes. 

Alexander  H.  Stephens. 

Alexander  Hamilton  Stephens,  1812  ,  of  Georgia,  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  late  Confederacy,  and  one  of  its  ablest  and  most  per- 
sistent advocates.  As  a  political  writer,  Mr.  Stephens  has  always 
commanded  respect,  even  from  those  most  opposed  to  his  views. 

Mr.  Stephens  has  occupied  his  leisure,  since  tlie  downfall  of  the 
Confederacy,  in  writing  its  story :  A  History  of  the  War  between  the 
States,  Tracing  its  Origin,  Causes,  and  Results. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      299 

Hinton  Ro^wan  Helper. 

Hinton  Kowan  Helper,  1829  ,  of  North  Carolina,  acquired  a 

painful  notoriety,  before  and  during  the  war,  by  the  publication  of  a 
book,  called  The  Impending  Crisis  of  the  South,  of  which  more  than 
140,000  copies  were  sold.  He  has  since  written  another  book,  No- 
joque,  a  Question  for  a  Continent,  the  object  of  which  is  to  correct  the 
impression  derived  from  the  Impending  Crisis,  that  he  is  the  friend 
of  the  negro.  He  wishes  the  world  to  know  that,  in  writing  against 
slavery  and  slaveholders,  he  has  not  written  in  the  interest  of  the 
negro  race.  On  the  contrary,  he  wishes  them  exterminated.  He  has 
published  another  work  in  the  same  vein,  The  Negroes  in  Negroland, 
the  Negroes  in  America,  and  Negroes  Generally.  He  writes  with  a 
reckless  vigor  that  insures  him  readers,  though  it  gives  one  little  con- 
fidence in  his  opinions. 


X.     SCIENTIFIC    WRITERS. 

Agassiz. 

Louis  John  Rudolph  Agassiz,  1807  ,  though  pre-eminent  as  a 

scientist,  has  not  thought  it  beneath  his  aim  to  use  the  arts  of  rhetoric 
in  commending  his  favorite  studies  to  the  attention  of  unlearned  read- 
ers. Few  even  of  our  professed  literary  men  excel  him  in  the  matter 
of  writing  good  English. 

His  work  on  Methods  of  Study  in  Natural  History,  is,  in  mere  at- 
tractions of  style  and  language,  as  fascinating  as  a  work  of  romance. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  his  volume  on  The  Structure  of  Animal 
Life,  being  a  course  of  lectures  delivered  before  the  Brooklyn  Institute 
to  illustrate  the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God,  as  manifested 
in  his  works. 

Guyot. 

Arnold  Henry  Guyot,  LL.  D.,  1807  ,  who  by  his  investigations 

in  Physical  Geography  has  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  that  branch 
of  science  in  the  United  States,  has  given  some  of  the  results  of  his 
inquiries  in  an  interesting  and  popular  volume,  called  Earth  and  Man, 
which  has  passed  through  many  editions.  Prof.  Guyot  is  also  the 
author  of  a  large  number  of  elaborate  Wall  IVl^ps  of  Physical  Geog- 
raphy, and  of  a  series  of  admirable  Common  School  Geographies. 


300  AMERICAN     LITERATURE. 

Com.  Maury. 

Matthew  Fontaine  Maury,  LL,  D.,  1806  ,  an  eminent  physicist, 

is  known  throughout  the  civilized  world  by  his  Wind  and  Current 
Charts,  and  his  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea. 

J.  Dorman  Steele. 

Prof.  J.  Dorman  Steele,  Ph.  D.,  1836  ,  is  one  of  the  progressive 

men  among  our  younger  class  of  teachers.  He  has  acquired  a  high 
reputation  as  a  teacher,  and  his  series  of  Short  Courses  in  several 
of  the  sciences  are  a  marked  feature  among  our  latest  school-book 
publications. 

Prof.  Steele's  "  Short  Courses "  grew  out  of  his  own  wants  in  the 
class-room.  The  following  is  the  list :  Fourteen  Weeks  in  Natural 
Philosophy ;  the  same  in  Chemistry ;  in  Astronomy ;  in  Geology ;  in 
Physiology. 

Ed>A^ard  Brooks. 

Edward  Brooks,  A.M.,  1831  ,  Principal  of  the  State  Normal 

School  at  Millersville,  Pa.,  has  done  an  important  service  to  the  cause 
of  popular  education  by  his  valuable  contributions  to  educational 
literature  in  the  extended  series  of  mathematical  text-books  which  he 
has  put  forth. 

The  works  published  by  him  are  the  following :  An  arithmetical 
series,  consisting  of  six  books,  —  a  Primary,  an  Elementary  (written), 
a  Mental,  and  a  Written  Arithmetic,  together  with  two  Keys,  which, 
besides  the  solutions  to  the  problems,  contain  many  valuable  exercises 
and  suggestions ;  Geometry,  and  Trigonometry,  two  works  bound  to- 
gether or  separately,  as  teachers  may  prefer ;  Elementary  Algebra, 
the  latest  and  probably  the  best  of  the  author's  works. 

Prof.  Whitney. 

William  Dwight  Whitney,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1827  ,  Professor  of 

Sanscrit  and  Modern  Languages  in  Yale  College,  stands  at  the  head 
of  American  scholarship  in  the  department  of  letters  to  which  he  has 
devoted  himself.  Besides  very  learned  disquisitions  which  hardly 
come  within  the  scope  of  ordinary  readers,  his  Lectures  on  Language 
are  a  contribution  at  once  to  original  science  and  to  popular  literature, 
and  are  the  best  pres^tation  of  the  subject  yet  made  by  any  Ameri- 
can writer. 

Professor  Bledsoe. 

Albert  Taylor  Bledsoe,  LL.  D., ,  for  some  time  Professor 

of  Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  has  written  with  great 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      301 

ability  on  the  Philosophy  of  Mathematics,  and  on  some  of  the  most 
abstruse  points  of  metaphysical  inquiry. 

Professors  Chase  and  Stuart. 

Thomas  Chase,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Philology  in  Haverford  College, 
near  Philadelphia,  and  George  Stuart,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Latin  in 
the  Philadelphia  High  School,  have  made  a  valuable  addition  to  our 
educational  literature  in  the  preparation  of  an  extended  series  of  clas- 
sical text-books.  This  series  includes  all  the  Latin  authors  ordinarily 
used  in  College  courses. 

Prof.  N.  C.  Brooks. 

Nathaniel  Covington  Brooks,  LL.  D.,  1809  ,  the  veteran  educa- 
tor, besides  the  large  work  which  he  has  done  as  a  teacher,  has  made 
numerous  and  valuable  contributions  to  educational  literature. 

Those  by  which  he  is  best  known  are  his  classical  series,  growing 
out  of  his  wants  and  profession  as  a  teacher.  They  are  the  following : 
Jilneid  of  Virgil;  Ovid's  Metamorphoses;  Caesar's  Commentaries; 
Historia  Sacra ;  Viri  Illustres  Americani ;  First  Latin  Lessons ;  First 
Greek  Lessons. 

Professor  MeGuffey. 

William  H.  McGufFey,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1800  — ^,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  and  Political  Economy  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  is 
widely  known  by  his  Eclectic  Series  of  School  Eeaders. 

Professors  Ne^Tvell  and  Creery. 

Professors  Newell  and  Creery,  of  Baltimore,  have  prepared  in 
conjunction  a  series  of  books  known  as  The  Maryland  Series,  which 
has  been  received  with  much  favor. 

The  publications  of  these  gentlemen  are  the  following :  Primary 
School  Spell  ing-Book ;  Grammar  School  Spelling-Book ;  First,  Second, 
Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  Sixth  Readers ;  Catechism  of  United  States 
History.  * 

XI.     THEOLOGICAL   AND   RELIGIOUS. 

Dr.  Hodge. 

Charles  Hodge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1797  ,  Senior  Professor  in  the 

Theological   Seminary  at  Princeton,  has  been   for  many   years  the 
acknowledged  leader  in  theology  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
26 


302  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

United  States.  His  great  work  on  Systematic  Theology  is  the  most 
elaborate  and  exhaustive  treatise  on  that  subject  which  American  lit- 
erature has  yet  produced. 

Other  works  of  Dr.  Hodge  are  The  Way  of  Life,  and  Commentaries 
on  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  First  and  Second  Corinthians,  and 
Ephesians.  All  these  are  held  in  the  highest  estimation,  and  are 
standard  works  on  the  subjects  treated. 

Dr.  MeCosh. 

m 

James  McCosh,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1811  ,  President  of  the  College 

of  New  Jersey,  has  greatly  distinguished  himself  as  a  writer  on  Meta- 
physics. 

His  work  on  The  Method  of  the  Divine  Government,  published  in 
1850,  made  a  profound  impression.  It  showed  the  author  to  be  a  man 
capable  of  dealing  with  the  very  highest  questions  of  mental  and 
spiritual  science,  on  equal  terms  with  the  great  thinkers  of  the  race, 
ancient  or  modern,  —  Aristotle,  Plato,  Edwards,  Kant,  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hamilton. 

Some  of  his  other  works  are  the  following:  The  Intuitions  of  the 
Mind  Inductively  Investigated ;  The  Supernatural  in  Relation  to  the 
Natural ;  Logic ;  Christianity  and  Positivism. 

Noah  Porter. 

Noah  Porter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1811  ,  President  of  Yale  College, 

is  highly  distinguished  as  a  writer  on  metaphysics  and  education.  His 
principal  works  are  The  Human  Intellect,  Elements  of  Intellectual 
Philosophy,  Books  and  Reading,  Educational  Systems  of  the  Puritans 
and  Jesuits  Compared,  and  The  American  Colleges  and  the  American 
People.  All  his  writings  indicate  a  mind  of  superior  grasp.  His  work 
on  the  Human  Intellect  is  pronounced  by  the  Princeton  Review  to  be 
"  the  most  complete  and  exhaustive  exhibition  of  the  cognitive  facul- 
ties of  the  human  soul  to  be  found  in  our  langua'ge,  perl{aps  in  any 
language." 

Dr.  Boardman. 

Henry  Augustus  Boardman,  D.  D.,  1808  ,  long  the  most  con- 
spicuous ornament  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  has 
made  many  valuable  contributions  to  religious  literature,  among  which 
may  be  named  especially  two  admirable  volumes,  The  Bible  in  the 
Family,  and  The  Bible  in  the  Counting-House. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      303 

Dr.  Jacobus. 

Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  D.D.,  LL.  D.,  1816  ,  Professor 

of  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature  in  the  Presbyterian  Theological 
Seminary  at  Alleghany,  Pa.,  is  the  author  of  a  valuable  series  of 
Commentaries. 

These  have  extended  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John,  Acts,  and 
Genesis.  They  belong  to  the  same  class  as  Barnes's  Notes,  being  in- 
tended mainly  for  the  use  of  Sunday-School  teachers,  though  having 
some  marked  peculiarities  of  their  own.  They  have  been  very  popu- 
lar, and  constitute  the  author's  chief  claim  t9  literary  distinction. 

Dr.  Shedd. 

William  Greenough  Thayer  Shedd,  D.  D.,  1820  ,  Professor  of 

Biblical  Literature  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  has 
published  a  History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  a  Treatise  on  Homiletics, 
and  other  valuable  works.  ^ 

Theodore  L.  Cuyler. 

Theodore  Ledyard  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  1822  ,  pastor  of  the  Lafayette 

Avenue  church  in  Brooklyn,  has  acquired  as  much  distinction  by 
his  "  Stray  Arrows  "  in  the  papers,  as  by  his  pulpit  eloquence. 

Dr.  Cuyler  writes  regularly  for  four  papers,  the  Independent,  Evan- 
gelist, National  Temperance  Advocate,  and  Zion's  Herald.  He  writes 
frequently  also  for  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Intelligencer.  He  has 
published  more  than  1300  articles.  He  has  written  also  thirty-five 
tracts,  one  of  which,  Somebody's  Son,  has  had  an  immense  circulation. 
His  four  books  are.  Stray  Arrows,  Cedar  Christian,  Heart  Life,  and 
Empty  Crib. 

Tayler  Le\vis. 

Tayler  Lewis,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1802  ,  Professor  of  Greek  in 

Union  College,  Schenectady,  is  by  general  consent  the  foremost  man 
in  his  department  in  the  United  States.  In  the  extent  and  thorough- 
ness of  his  attainments  in  Greek,  he  ranks  with  the  first  scholars  of 
the  great  European  Universities.  At  the  same  time,  while  making 
these  special  acquisitions,  he  has  not  lived  the  life  of  a  recluse,  but 
has  managed  to  keep  himself  abreast  with  general  scholarship,  and 
has  contributed  largely  to  current  literature. 

The  following  are  his  principal  works :  The  Platonic  Theology,  or 
Plato  contra  Atheos ;  The  Six  Days  of  Creation ;  The  World  Problem, 


304  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

or  the  Bible  and  Science;  The  Divine-Human  in  the  Scriptures; 
State  Eights,  a  Photograph  from  the  Euins  of  Ancient  Greece ;  Capi- 
tal Punishment. 

Dr.  Plumer. 

William  Swan  Plumer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1802  ,  Professor  of  Di- 
dactic and  Polemic  Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Colum- 
bia, S.  C,  is  one  of  the  ablest  theologians  and  preachers  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  has  produced.  He  is  the 
author  of  seventeen  volumes,  varying  in  size  from  the  small  Sunday- 
School  book  to  the  massive  octavo,  and  of  more  than  sixty  religious 
tracts.  His  writings  are  uniformly  marked  by  clearness  and  vigor  of 
thought,  and  are  models  of  good  English. 

The  following  are  some  of  his  principal  works :  The  Promises  of 
God ;  The  Bible  True ;  The  Church  and  Her  Enemies ;  Vital  Godli- 
ness ;  Rock  of  Our  Salvation ;  Grace  of  Christ ;  Jehovah-jireh  ;  Com- 
mentary on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  large  8vo ;  Commentary  on 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  large  Svo ;  Studies  in  the  Book  of  Psalms, 
royal  octavo  of  1211  pages. 


Dr.  Smyth. 

Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  1808  ,  a  distinguished  Presbyterian  di- 
vine of  Charleston,  S.  C,  has  made  many  and  able  contributions  to  the 
theological  literature  of  his  Church.  Some  of  his  publications  are  the 
following :  Lectures  on  the  Prelatical  Doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession ;  Ecclesiastical  Catechism  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  Pres- 
bytery and  not  Prelacy  the  Scriptural  and  Primitive  Polity ;  Ecclesi- 
astical Republicanism  ;  History  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  ;  Name, 
Nature,  and  Functions  of  Ruling  Elder ;  Prelatical  Rite  of  Confirma- 
tion Examined. 

Dr.  Scott. 

William  Anderson  Scott,  D.D.,  1813  ,  pastor  of  the  St.  John's 

Presbyterian  church,  San  Francisco,  widely  known  as  an  eloquent 
preacher,  has  gained  equal  reputation  as  a  writer,  his  contributions  to 
religious  literature  being  both  numerous  and  valuable.  Some  of  his 
publications  are  the  following :  The  Christ  of  the  Apostles'  Creed ; 
The  Voice  of  the  Church  against  Arianism ;  Strauss  and  Renan ;  The 
Centurions  of  the  Gospel ;  The  Wedge  of  Gold,  or  Achan  in  El  Do- 
rado ;  Trade  and  Letters,  their  Journey ings  round  the  World. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      305 

Dr.  Charles  Porterfield  Krauth. 

Charles  Porterfield  Krautli,D.D.,  1823 ,  Professor  of  Moral  and 

Intellectual  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  is  one  of  the 
most  learned  theologians  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States. 
His  latest  and  largest  work,  The  Conservative  Reformation  and  its 
Theology,  is  a  work  of  masterly  ability  and  independent  research. 

Dr.  Sehaff. 

Philip  Schafi",  D.  D.,  1819  ,  is  one  of  the  most  industrious  and 

prolific  contributors  to  theological  literature  that  the' "times  have  pro- 
duced. Of  his  many  important  works  the  greatest  is  his  editing  an 
English  translation  of  Lange's  great  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. This  work,  in  its  introduction  to  American  readers,  has  been 
not  merely  translated,  but  has  been  enlarged  and  modified  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  be  almost  a  new  and  original  work ;  and  although  exe- 
cuted in  detail  by  numerous  fellow-workmen,  yet  the  whole  of  it  has 
passed  through  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Schafi*  as  translator  and  editor 
in  chief.  The  work  when  finished  will  be  the  most  complete  and 
thorough  commentary  in  the  English  language. 


Henry  Ward  Beeeher. 

Eev.  Henry  "Ward  Beeeher,  1813  ,  pastor  of  the  Plymouth 

church,  Brooklyn,  the  most  popular  of  American  preachers,  is  also, 
though  not  equally,  distinguished  as  a  writer.  His  Star  Papers,  Life 
Thoughts,  and  Norwood  are  among  the  best-known  American  books. 

President  Chadbourne. 

Paul  A.  Chadbourne,  LL.  D.,  1823  ,  President  of  Williams  Col- 
lege, is  distinguished  as  a  naturalist,  an  administrator  of  affairs,  and 
an  author.  His  publications  are  not  numerous,  but  are  of  a  high 
order  of  ability.  They  are  the  following:  The  Relations  of  Natural 
History  to  Intellect,  Taste,  Wealth,  and  Religion ;  Natural  Theology; 
Instinct  in  Animals  and  Man. 

Prof.  Peabody. 

Andrew  Preston  Peabody,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1811  ,  Professor  of 

Christian  Morals  in  Harvard  University,  is  a  leading  theologian  among 
the  Unitarians,  and  has  contributed  largely  to  the  religious  literature 
of  the  denomination  to  which  he  belongs. 
26*  U 


306  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

One  of  Dr.  Peabody's  most  popular  works  is  a  treatise  on  the  Faults 
and  Graces  of  Conversation.  Some  of  his  other  works  are :  Christian- 
ity the  Religion  of  Nature ;  Sermons  for  Children ;  Beminiscences  of 
European  Travel ;  Lectures  on  Christian  Doctrine. 

Prof.  Haekett. 

Horatio   Balch  Haekett,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1808  ,  Professor   of 

Biblical  Literature  in  the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  is  one  of 
tlie  most  eminent  divines  and  scholars  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 
Among  his  contributions  to  theological  literature  the  following  may 
be  named :  A  Commentary  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;  Illustrations 
of  Scripture  suggested  by  a  Tour  in  the  Holy  Land ;  Notes  on  the 
Greek  Text  of  Philemon,  with  a  revised  Translation. 

President  Samson. 

George  Whitefield  Samson,  D.  D.,  President  of  Rutgers  Female 
College,  New  York  city,  has  a  high  reputation  as  an  educator,  and  is 
the  author  of  several  valuable  works.  His  largest  work  is  one  on 
Art-Criticism,  filling  800  pages  8vo. 

Dr.  Eddy. 

Daniel  C.  Eddy,   D.  D., ,  Pastor  of  the   First  Baptist 

church,  Fall  River,  Mass.,  is  the  author  of  a  large  number  of  religious 
books  which  have  been  very  popular.  The  following  may  be  named  : 
Young  Man's  Friend;  Europa,  or  Scenes  in  the  Old  World;  The 
Burman  Apostle,  a  brief  life  of  Judson ;  The  Percy  Family,  5  vols., 
for  children ;  Walter's  Tour  in  the  East,  6  vols.,  for  children ;  The 
Heroines  of  the  Missionary  Enterprise ;  The  Young  Woman's  Friend, 
or  Women  of  the  Bible ;  Angel  Whispers,  a  book  of  consolation  for 
mourners. 

Dr.  MeClintoek. 

John  MeClintoek,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  1814-1870,  late  President  of  Drew 
Theological  Seminary,  was  one  of  the  leading  writers  in  the  Methodist 
Church  in  the  United  States.  His  great  work,  Theological  and  Bibli- 
cal Cyclopaedia,  projected  and,  before  his  death,  nearly  completed,  by 
him  and  his  colleague,  Dr.  Strong,  is  a  monument  of  scholarship  and 
theological  learning. 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      307 

Abel  Stevens. 

Abel  Stevens,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1815  ,  Editor  of  the  Methodist, 

has  made  larger  contributions  than  any  living  writer  to  the  History 
of  Methodism,  and  has  written  more  probably  than  any  one  else  of  the 
larger  books  on  the  catalogue  of  the  Book  Concern.  Of  his  own 
works  the  following  may  be  named :  Introduction  of  Methodism  into 
the  United  States ;  Progress  of  Methodism  in  New  England ;  History 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  4  vols. ;  His- 
tory of  the  Keligious  Movement  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  called 
Methodism,  3  vols. 

Dr.  Whedon. 

Daniel  Denison  Whedon,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1808  ,  official  editor 

of  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Eeview,  is  known  most  favorably  among 
theologians  by  his  work  on  The  Will. 

James  Challen. 

Rev.  James  Challen,  1802  ,  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 

conspicuous  converts  to  the  doctrines  of  Alexander  Campbell,  and  has 
contributed  largely  to  the  literature  of  his  Church.  Of  Mr.  Challen's 
works  the  following  may  be  named :  The  Gospel  and  its  Elements ; 
Christian  Evidences ;  Baptism  in  Spirit  and  in  Fire ;  Christian 
Morals ;  The  Cave  of  Macpelah  and  Other  Poems. 

President  Milligan. 

Rev.  Robert  Milligan,  1814  ,  President  of  the  College  of  the 

Bible  in  the  Kentucky  University,  at  Lexington,  has  shown  extraor- 
dinary executive  ability  in  organizing  the  University  of  which  he  is 
so  conspicuous  an  ornament,  and  has  made  several  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  theological  literature  of  his  Church.  Among  these  may 
be  named  The  Scheme  of  Redemption,  Reason  and  Revelation,  The 
Great  Commission. 

Bishop  Mcllvaine. 

Rt.  Rev.  Charles  Petit  Mcllvaine,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1798 ,  Bishop 

of  Ohio,  is  known  in  literature  chiefly  by  his  popular  work  on  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity. 

Bishop  Odenheimer. 

Rt.  Rev.  William  Henry  Odenheimer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1817  , 

Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  has  made  a  special  study  of  Canon  Law,  and 


308  AMERICAN    LITERATURE. 

is  an  authority  in  his  Church  in  matters  pertaining  to  church  order. 
He  is  also  remarkable  for  his  earnestness  and  spirituality  as  a  Chris- 
tian pastor.  Among  his  publications  the  following  may  be  named :  The 
Origin  and  Compilation  of  the  Prayer- Book ;  The  Devout  Church- 
man's Companion ;  The  True  Catholic  no  Eomanist ;  Thoughts  on 
Immersion ;  The  Young  Churchman  Catechized ;  Essay  on  Canon 
Law ;  The  Sacred  Scriptures,  the  Inspired  Record  of  the  Glory  of  the 
Holy  Trinity. 

Dr.  Stone. 

John  Seely  Stone,  D.  D.,  1795  ,  Senior  Professor  of  the  Epis- 
copal Theological  School  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  is  regarded  as  the 
most  accomplished  expounder  of  Christian  doctrine  in  the  American 
Episcopal  Church.  His  publications  have  not  been  numerous,  but 
have  uniformly  been  of  a  high  order  of  merit,  and  his  Sermons,  both 
in  matter  and  style,  are  worthy  of  being  accounted  classical.  Of  his 
published  works  the  following  may  be  named :  A  Life  of  Bishop  Gris- 
wold ;  A  Life  of  Dr.  Milnor ;  The  Living  Temple ;  The  Christian 
Sacraments ;  The  Divine  Rest  (a  work  on  the  Sabbath). 

Dr.  Tyng. 

Stephen  Higginson  Tyng,  D.  D.,  1800  ,  rector  of  St.  George's, 

N.  Y.,  has  been  for  many  years  an  acknowledged  leader  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Low-Church  party  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  Of  his 
many  publications  the  following  are  worthy  of  special  note :  Forty 
Years'  Experience  in  Sunday-Schools ;  Memoir  of  Dr.  Bedell ;  Me- 
moir of  Rev.  E.  P.  Messenger ;  Lectures  on  the  Law  and  the  Gospel ; 
The  Rich  Kinsman,  or  The  History  of  Ruth  ;  The  Captive  Orphan, 
or  Esther  Queen  of  Persia ;  The  Spencers,  a  work  of  religious  fiction. 

Archbishop  Kenrick. 

The  Most  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  D.  D.,  1797-1863, 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  was  esteemed  among  all  denominations, 
Protestant  and  Catholic,  as  an  amiable  and  scholarly  man,  of  great 
and  varied  learning,  particularly  in  the  department  of  dogmatic  the- 
ology. Though  earnestly  devoted  to  the  work  and  the  interests  of  his 
own  Church,  he  was  not  wanting  in  charity  and  kindness  to  men  of 
other  creeds,  as  the  writer  of  the  present  volume  takes  pleasure  in 
testifying  from  his  own  experience. 

Dr.  Kenrick's  two  greatest  works  are  in  Latin :  Theologia  Dog- 
matica,  in  4  vols.,  and  Theologia  Moralis,  in  3  vols.,  Svo.    Of  his 


FROM    1850    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME.      309 

works  in  English,  the  most  extended  and  interesting  is  a  new  version 
of-  the  entire  Bible,  with  a  commentary. 

Archbishop  Spalding. 

The  Most  Eev.  Martin  John  Spalding,  D.  D.,  1810-1872,  late  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  made  several  important  contributions  to  theolog- 
ical literature,  mostly  of  a  controversial  kind.  The  following  are  some 
of  them :  Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholic  Missions  of  Kentucky ;  The 
Life  and  Labors  of  Bishop  Flaget ;  A  Review  of  D' Aublgne's  History 
of  the  Reformation,  embracing  the  History  of  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion in  all  Countries ;  Miscellanea,  a  collection  of  Reviews,  Essays,  and 
Lectures  on  about  fifty  different  subjects,  2  vols.,  8vo  j  Lectures  on  the 
Evidences  of  Catholicity. 

Archbishop  Bayley. 

The  Most  Rev.  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  D.  D.,  1814 ,  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  has  long  been  known  as  one  of  the  most  scholarly 
prelates  in  the  Catholic  Episcopate  in  the  United  States.  His  chief 
publication  is  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Early  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  on  the  Island  of  New  York. 

Archbishop  Hughes. 

The  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  D.  D.,  Archbishop  of  New  York,  1797 
-1864,  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  energetic  of  the  Catholic 
prelates  in  the  United  States.  His  writings  were  chiefly  controversial, 
the  most  memorable  being  the  Debates  between  himself  and  Dr.  John 
Breckinridge,  carried  on  in  one  of  the  Philadelphia  newspapers,  and 
afterwards  republished  in  book-form. 

Bishop  England. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  D.  D.,  1786-1842,  long  Bishop  of  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  was  held  in  high  esteem  among  his  fellow-citizens  of  all 
denominations.  His  writings  have  been  published  in  eight  large  vol- 
umes, and  form  a  valuable  part  of  the  Catholic  theological  literature 
of  the  United  States. 

Brownson. 

Orestes  Augustus  Brownson,  LL.  D.,  1803  -^- — ,  editor  of  Brownson'a 
Review,  is  the  ablest  and  the  best  known  lay  writer  among  American 
Catholics.     His  writings  have  appeared  chiefly  in  Brownson's  Quar- 


310 


AMERICAN    LITERATURE, 


terly,  conducted  by  himself.  Charles  Elwood,  or  the  Infidel  Converted, 
is  a  novel  describing  his  own  religious  experience.  The  Covenant,  or 
Leaves  from  my  Experience,  is  another  work  of  the  same  character. 
Since  1844,  Dr.  Brownson  has  supported  his  Eeview  almost  single- 
handed,  devoting  himself  chiefly  to  the  advocacy  and  defence  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  discussing  also  questions  of 
politics  and  literature. 


Index. 


Abbott,  Jacob,  291 ;  John  S.  C,  292. 

AJbbotsfordf  residence  of  Walter  Scott, 
149. 

A-belard  and  Eloiae,  by  Pope,  86. 

AJbercrotnbie,  John,  155. 

A-dant  JSede,  by  George  Eliot,  196. 

Adams,  John,  228 ;  John  Quincy,  249, 

Adams,  W.  T.,  "  Oliver  Optic,"  291. 

Addison,  Joseph,  90. 

Adonais,  by  Shelley,  141. 

Agassiz,  Louis  J.  R.,  299. 

Age,  The,  of  Philadelphia,  281. 

Age  of  Reason,  by  Thomas  Paine,  128, 

Aids  to  Reflection,  by  Coleridge,  145. 

Aikin,  John,  159. 

Ahenside,  Mark,  114. 

Alcott,  Louisa  May,  293. 

AUlen,  Joseph,  288. 

Alexander,  Archibald,  253;  James  and 
Addison,  254. 

A I  ford,  Henry,  212. 

Alison,  Sir  Archibald,  178;  Archibald, 
180. 

Allen,  William,  245. 

Allibone,  S.  Austin,  274. 

Alliterative  Verse,  in  Piers  Plowman, 
26. 

Alton  ZocJce,  by  Kingsley,  194. 

Amelia,  by  Fielding,  110. 

American  TAteratiire,  a  part  of  Eng- 
lish Literature,  18  ;  Encyclopedia  of, 
by  Duyckinck,  274. 

Ames,  Fisher,  231. 

Among  mtf  BooUs,  by  Lowell,  272. 

''Amy  LotJtrop,'*  Anna  Warner,  292. 


Analogy  of  Religion,  by  Butler,  99. 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  by  Robert 

Burton,  51. 
Ancient  Mariner,  by  Coleridge,  144. 
Ancren  Ritvle,  The,  21. 
Angler,  Complete,  by  Izaak  Walton,  71. 
Anglo-Saicon,  parent  of  the  English, 

17. 
Anitnated  Nature,  by  Goldsmith,  113. 
Anthon,  Charles,  253. 
Anti-Jacobin,  by  Canning,  153. 
Apology  for  the  Bible,  Watson's,  137. 
Arbuthnot,  John,  93. 
Arcades,  by  Milton,  64. 
Arcadia,  The,  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  40. 
Arctic  Explorations,  by  Dr.  Kane, 

252. 
Arden,  Mary,  mother  of  Shakespeare,  46. 
Areopagitica,  by  Milton,  65. 
Argyle,  Duke  of,  202. 
Arnold,  Thomas,  179 ;  Matthew,  180. 
"  Artemus  Ward,"  C.  F.  Browne,  283. 
Arthur,  T.  S.,  291. 
Aseham,  Roger,  50. 
Associated  Press,  New  York,  283. 
Atterbury,  Bishop,  94. 
Audubon,  John  James,  235. 
Austen,  Lady,   friend  of  Cowper,  121^ 

Jane.  151. 
Autocrat  of  tJie  BreaTcfast  Table, 

by  Holmes,  275. 
Aytotin,  William  E.,  185. 

Bache,  Alexander  Dallas,  251. 
Bacon,  Fnuicis,  Lord  Bacon,  49. 

311 


312 


INDEX. 


Baghy,  George  W.,  285. 

Baily,  Nathan,  lexicographer,  98 ;  Philip 

James,  185. 
Baillie,  Joanna,  145. 
Baker,  Mrs.  Harriette   N.  W.,  "Made- 
line Leslie,"  295. 
Bancroft,  George,  295. 
Barhatild,  Anna  Letitia,  158. 
Barclay,  Robert,  83. 
Barham,   Richard    H.,  author   of  In- 

goldsby  Legends,  165. 
Barlow,  Joel,  231. 
Barnard,  IFenry,  287. 
Barnes,  Albert,  256. 
Barrotv,  Isaac,  74. 

"Barry  Cornwall,"  B.  W.  Procter,  185. 
Barton,  Bernard,  166. 
Battle  of  the  Kegs,  by  Hopkinson,  230. 
Baxter,  Richard,  74. 
Bayley,    Archbishop,     309;     Thomas 

Haynes,  106. 
Bay  Bsahn  BooJc,  221. 
Beattie,  James,  122. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  dramatists, 

48. 
Beecher,  Lyman,  257 ;  Henry  Ward,  305. 
Beechenhrooli,  by  Mrs.  Preston,  270. 
Beggar's  Opera,  by  Gay,  87. 
Bell,  Currer,  Acton,  and  Ellis,  169. 
Bells,  by  Poe,  237. 
Ben  Jonson,  47. 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  278. 
Benfham,  Jeremy,  155. 
Bentley,  Richard,  96. 
Benton,  Thomas  IL,  249. 
Berkeley,  Georg;Q,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  95. 
Bethune,  George  W.,  258. 
Beulah,  by  Mrs.  A.  E.  Wilson,  294. 
Heveridge,  William,  82. 
Bible,  English,  Wyckliffe's  Version,  27, 

54;   Tyndale's,   54;    Coverdale's,   55; 

Matthew's,  55  ;  Great  Bible,  or  Cran- 

mer's,  55  ;  Geneva,  56;  Bishops',  56; 

Rheims-Douay,  57  ;  King  James's,  57. 
Bible  in  Family,  by  Dr.  Boardman, 

302. 
Bickersteth,  Rev.  Edward  H.,  186. 
Biddle,  Charles  J.,  281. 
Bigelow  Papers,  by  Lowell,  272. 
Biographia  Ziteraria,    Coleridge's, 

145. 
Biographical    Dictionary,    by 

Thomas,  297. 
Bird,  R.  M.,  290. 

Birds  of  America,  by  Audubon,  235. 
Bitter-Sweet,  by  J.  G.  Holland,  269. 


Black  Prince,  The,  24. 
Blackwood,  Magazine,  founded,  171. 
Blair,  Robert,  88 ;   Hugh,  131 ;  James, 

224. 
Blank  Verse,  first  introduced  by  Sur- 
rey, 35. 
Bledsoe,  Albert  Taylor,  300. 
Blessington,  Lady,  151. 
Blind  Harr^,  the  Scotch  minstrel,  30. 
Bloonifield,  Robert,  147. 
Boardman,  H.  A.,  302. 
Body  of  Divinity,  by  Stackhouse,  99; 

by  Ridgley,  100. 
Boker,  George  H.,  268. 
Bolinybroke,  Viscount,  94. 
Bonar,  Hui-atius,  186. 
Borroiv,  George,  168. 
Boston,  Thomas,  100. 
Bostvell's  Life  of  Johnson,  103. 
Botanic   Garden,  by    Erasmus   Dar- 

wine,  122. 
Boyle,  Hon.  Robert,  80 ;  Charles,  96. 
Bracebridge  Hall,  by  Irving,  244. 
Brackenridge,  Hugh  Henry,  230. 
Bradstreet,  Anne,  233. 
Breckinridge,  Robert  J.,  256. 
Breitniann,  Hans,  284. 
Brewster,  Sir  David,  203. 
Bride  of  Abydos,  by  Byron,  140. 
Bridge  of  Sighs,  by  Hood,  165. 
Bridgewater  Treatises,  175. 
British  Poets,  by  Dr.  Aikin,  159. 
British  Spy,  by  Wirt,  234. 
Bront4,  Charlotte  and  Sisters,  168. 
Brooks,  Edward,  300  ;  N.  C.,  301. 
Brotighatn,  Henry,  Lord,  170. 
Br  own, Ihomas,  155 ;  Charles  Brockden, 

234. 
Browne,  C.  F.,  "  Artemns  Ward,"  283 ; 

Sir  Thoma.s,  70. 
Browning,  Robert,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth 

Barrett,  183. 
Brownson,  Orestes  A.,  309. 
Brnce,  The,  by  Barbour,  28. 
Brunne,  Robert  of,  22. 
Bmt,  The.  of  Layamon,  19. 
Brutus  of  England,  the  legends   in 

regard  to  him,  19,  20. 
Bri/ant,  William  C,  268. 
Buckle,  Henry  Thomas,  201. 
Bulwer-  T^ytton,  190. 
Bunyan,  John,  75. 
Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  226. 
Burke,  Edmund,  103. 
Burney,    Fanny,   aft^rwjinls     AT:i(b(ino 

D'Arblay,  125;  Dr.  C!mrl<s  V-V,. 


INDEX. 


313 


Burns,  Robert,  122. 
JBurton,  Robert,  51, 
Sutler,  Joseph,  Bishop,  99;  Samuel,  68; 

Alban,  118. 
JSyrd,  Col.  William,  224. 
Syron,  Lord,  138. 

CalaynoSf  by  Boker,  268. 

Caleb  Williatns,  by  Godwin,  128. 

Calhoun,  Johu  C,  249. 

Call  to  Unconverted,  by  Baxter,  75. 

Campbell,  George,  131;  Lord  John,  179; 

Thomas,  142;  Alexander,  260. 
Canning,  George,  163. 
Canterbuinf   Tales,  by    Chaucer,  24; 

edited  by  Tyrwbitt,  108. 
Caretv,  Thomas,  68. 
Carey,  Henry  C,  298. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  197. 
Carter,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  108. 
Cary,  Alice  and  Phoebe,  271. 
Castle  of  Indolence,  by  Thomson,  88. 
Catechism,  The  Shorter,  60. 
Cathedral,  by  Lowell,  272. 
Caudle  Lectures,  by  Douglas  Jerrold, 

200. 
Cause  and  Effect,  by  Thomas  Brown, 

155. 
Caxton,  William,  34. 
Celtic,  its  relation  to  English,  17. 
Chabot,  Charles,  identifies   the  Letters 

of  Junius,  106. 
Chadbourne,  Paul  A.,  305. 
Chalkley,  Thomas,  224. 
Challen,  James,  307. 
CJialloner,  Bishop,  117. 
Chalmers,  Thomas,  175. 
Cfiatnbers,  Robert  and  William,   213; 

Ephraim,  98. 
Channing,  W.  Ellery,  258. 
Chapman,  George,  48. 
Charcoal  Shetches,  by  Neal,  241. 
CJiarles  the  Bold,  by  Kirk,  296. 
Charles  V.,  History  of,  by  Robertson, 

107. 
diaries  O'Malley,  by  Lever,  194. 
Chase,  Thomas.  301. 
Chatterton,  Thomas,  115. 
C'/jawcer^ Geoffrey,  23  ;  Life  by  Godwin, 

128 ;  edited  by  Tyrwhitt,  108. 
Chesebro,  Caroline,  294. 
Chesterfield,  Earl  of,  105. 
Child,  Lydia  Maria,  243. 
Childe  Barold,  by  Byron,  139. 
Choate,  Rufus,  250. 
Christabel,  by  Coleridge,  144. 

27 


Christian  Tear,  by  Keble,  164. 
Christopher  Caustic,  Th.  G.  Fessen- 

den.  233. 
'^Christopher  North,"  John  Wilson, 

171. 
Church  History,  by  Milner,  136. 
Church  Latin,  of  the  English  Church, 

171. 
Cicero,  Life  of,  by  Middleton,  97. 
Clarendon,  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  C,  69. 
Clainssa    Mai'lotve,   by   Richardson, 

110. 
Clap,  Thomas,  225. 
Clay,  Henry,  249. 

Clemens,  S.  L.,  "  Mark  Twain,"  284. 
Cobbett,  William,  153. 
Ccelebs  in  Search  of  a  TFi/e,  by  Han- 
nah More,  125. 
Colden,  Cadwallader,  225. 
Colenso,  Bishop,  210. 
Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  144. 
Collier,  Jeremy,  90. 
Collins,  William,  113  ;  Wllkie,  196. 
Colunibiad,  by  Barlow,  231. 
Common  Sense,  hy  Thomas  Paine,  127. 
Complete  Angler,  by  Izaak  Walton, 

7L 
Cotnus,  by  Milton,  64, 
Concordance  of  Scriptures,  by  Cru- 

den,  117. 
Condensed   Novels,  by    Bret    Harte, 

272. 
Confessio  Amantis,  by  Gower,  25. 
Congreve,  William,  89. 
Cooke,  J.  Esten,  and  Philip  Pendleton, 

290. 
Cooper,  J.  Fenimore,  239. 
Corn-Law  Bhymer,  name  for  Ebene- 

zer  Elliott,  164. 
Cotton,  John,  221. 
Cotintry  Church-yard,  Elegy  in,  by 

Gray,  113. 
Country  Parson,  by  George  Herbert, 

43. 
Course  of  Time,  by  Pollok,  148. 
Cowley,  Abraham,  67. 
Cotvper,  William,  119. 
Cox,  Samuel  H.,  257. 
Crabbe,  George,  146. 
Craik,  George  L.,  199. 
Cranmer,  his  connection  with  the  com- 
pilation of  the  Prayer-Book,  59. 
Creery,  W.  R.,  301. 
Crimea,  Invasion  of,  Kinglake's,  208. 
Criticism,  Elements  of,  by  Kamos,  1()7. 
Criticistn,  Essay  on,  by  Pope,  sti. 


314 


INDEX. 


Croly,  George,  164. 
Cruden,  Alexander,  117. 
Crusoe,  Robinson,  by  De  Foe,  97. 
Cudtvorth,  Ralph,  73. 
Culprit  Fay,  by  Drake,  234. 
Curtis,  George  W.,  277. 
Cutjler,  Theodore  L.,  30.3. 
Cyclopcedia,  by  Ephraim  Chambers,  98. 

lyairyman's  DaugJiter,  by  Legh 
Richmond,  157. 

Dana,  Richard  Henry,  238,  289 ;  Charles 
A.,  281. 

Daniel,  Samuel,  42. 

Dante,  translated  by  Longfellow,  267. 

jyArblay,  Madame,  125. 

Dartvin,  Erasmus,  121;  Charles,  203. 

Davenant,  Sir  William,  68. 

Davidson,  J.  Wood,  275. 

Davies,  Samuel,  226. 

Decker,  Thomas,  49. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  by 
Jefferson,  229. 

Decline  and  Fall,  History  of,  by  Gib- 
bon, 107. 

Defence  of  Poesie,  by  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney^ 40. 

De  Foe,  Daniel,  97. 

Deistical  Writers,  by  Leland,  100, 

De  Quincey,  Thomas,  172. 

Derby,  Earl  of,  200. 

Descent  of  Man,  by  Darwin,  203. 

Deserted  Village,  by  Goldsmith,  112. 

Destnond,  Earl  of,  his  forfeited  estates, 
38. 

Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  by  Lyttelton, 
108. 

Dickens,  Charles,  187. 

Dickinson,  Jonathan,  225  ;  Anna,  293. 

Dictionary,  English,  by  Bailey,  98 ;  by 
Johnson,  102;  by  Walker,  133;  by 
Richardson,  214;  by  Webster,  235; 
by  Worcester,  252. 

Dictionary  of  A.uthors,  by  Allibone, 
274. 

Dictionaries,  Smith's,  215. 

Digamma,QTeeii,  restored  by  Bentley, 
90. 

Diticiples  of  Christ,  260. 

Disraeli,  Isaac,  Benjamin,  191. 

Diversions  of  Furley,  by  Home 
Tooke,  131. 

Divine  Legation,  hy  Warburton,  116. 

Divorce,  Tractate  by  Milton,  65. 

Doane,  George  Washington,  259. 

Doddridge,  Pliilip,  100;  his  Hymns,  62. 


Dodge,  Mary  Abigail,  276. 
Don  Juan,  by  Byron,  140. 
Dorset,  Earl  of,  41,  79. 
D'Ossoli,  Margaret  Fuller,  247. 
Dotiglas,  Gawin,  Scotch  poet,  31. 
Downing,  A.  J.,  263;  Major  Jack,  285. 
Drake,  Joseph  Rodman,  234. 
Drama,  The  English,  its  rise,  43. 
Dramatists,  their  corruption,  88. 
Drayton,  Michael,  42. 
Dryden,  John,  77. 
Duenna,  by  Sheridan,  124. 
Dunbar,  William,  30. 
Dunciajl,  by  Pope,  86. 
Dunglison,  Robley,  251. 
Dutch  Itepublic,  by  Motley,  296. 
Duyckinck,  Evart  A.  and  George  L., 

274. 
Dwight,  Timothy,  231. 
Dymond,  Jonathan,  155. 

Early  Scotch  Poets,  28. 

Earthly  Paradise,  by  Morris,  186. 

Ecce  Homo,  by  Prof.  Seeley,  210. 

Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,  by 
Witherspoon,  230. 

Ecclesiastical  Polity,  by  Hooker,  52. 

Eddy,  Daniel  C,  306. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  150. 

Edinburgh  Heview,  founded,  169. 

*<  Edmund  Kirke,"  J.  R.  Gilmore,  289. 

Education,  Tractate  by  Milton,  65. 

Edward  VI.,  his  connection  with  the 
Prayer-Book,  59. 

Edtvards,  Jonathan,  226. 

Eggleston,  Edward,  283. 

Eikonoklastes,  by  Milton,  66. 

Elements  of  Criticism,  by  Kames, 
107. 

Elia,  Essays  of,  by  Lamb,  169. 

Eliot,  George,  Marion  Evans,  196;  John, 
222. 

Ellet,  Mrs.  E.  F.,  297. 

*' Elizabeth  Wetherill,"  Susan  War- 
ner, 292. 

Elliott,  Ebenezer,  164 ;  Charlotte,  183. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  246. 

Endymion,  by  Keats,  141. 

England,  Bishop,  309. 

English  Bards  and  Scotch  He- 
viewers,  by  Byron,  139. 

Englisli  Dictionary,  by  Walker,  133. 

English  Grammar,  Murray's,  134. 

English  language,  its  origin  and  be- 
ginning, 18. 

English  Literature,  how  defined,  17 ; 


INDEX. 


315 


its  beginning  and  divisions,  18;  by 
Marsh,  -153. 

English,  Past  and  Present,  by  Trench, 
212;  the  Queen's,  by  Alford,  212;  the 
Dean's,  by  Moon,  212. 

English  Poetry,  history  of,  by  War- 
ton,  132. 

English  Reader,  Murray's,  134. 

Enthtisiasm,  Natural  History  of,  177. 

Essayists,  English,  90. 

Essay  on,  Man,  by  Pope,  86. 

Essays  and  Reviews,  176. 

Ettrick  Shepherd,  name  for  Hogg,  147, 

Euphues,  or  the  Anatomy  of  Wit,  45. 

Evangeline,  by  Longfellow,  266. 

Evans,  Marian,  "  George  Eliot,"  196. 

Eve  of  St.  Agnes,  by  Keats,  141. 

Evelyn,  John,  81. 

Evenings  at  Home,  by  Dr.  Aikin,  159. 

Everett,  Alexander  and  Edward,  248. 

Excursion,  by  Wordsworth,  143. 

Eaher,  George  Stanley,  211. 

Fairfax,  Edward,  42. 

Fairy  Queen,  The,  by  Spenser,  38. 

Falconer,  William,  114. 

Family  Expositor,  by  Doddridge,  100. 

<'Fanny  Fern,**  Mrs.  Parton,  276. 

"Fanny  Forrester,"  Mrs.  Judson,  243. 

Farmer's  Roy,  by  Bloomfield,  148. 

Farquhar,  George,  89. 

Father  of  English  Poetry,  a  name 

given  to  Chaucer,  23. 
Federalist,    The,    by    Hamilton    and 

others,  229. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  by  Pres- 

cott,  295. 
Ferguson,  Adam,  130. 
Fern  Leaves,  by  Mrs.  Parton,  276. 
Ferrex  and  Poi'rex,  early  comedy,  45. 
Fessenden,  Thomas  Green,  233. 
Festus,  by  Philip  James  Bailey,  185. 
Meld,  Kate,  273. 
Fielding,  Henry,  110. 
Melds,  James  T.,  270. 
Flash,  Henry  Lynden,  270. 
Fletclier,  Giles  and  Phineas,43, 
Foote,  Samuel,  124. 

F<yrce  of  Truth,  by  Thomas  Scott,  156. 
JP'ord,  John,  49. 
Forney,  John  W.,  281. 
Foster,  John,  174. 
Fourfold  State,  by  Boston.  100. 
Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  51. 
Fox,     John,      the     Martyrologist,    51; 

George,  83. 


Francis,  Sir  Philip,  identified  with  Ju- 
nius, 105. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  228. 

FrencJi  Revolution,  Reflections  on,  by 
Burke,  104. 

FYiends  in  Council,  by  Helps,  208. 

Friends,  The  Early,  83. 

Froissart  Ballads,  by  Ph.  Pendleton 
Cooke,  290. 

Froude,  James  Anthony,  207. 

Fuller,  Thomas,  73 ;  Margaret,  297. 

Furness,  William  H.,  259. 

« Gail    Hamilton,"     Mary     Abigail 

Dodge,  276. 
Gallaudet,  Thomas  IT.,  263. 
Gammer  Gurton's  Needle,  an  early 

English  comedy,  45. 
Garrick,  David,  102,  124. 
Garvin,  Douglas,  31. 
Gaskell,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  C,  196. 
"Gath,"  Geo.  A.  Townsend,  282. 
Gaunt,  John  of,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  24. 
Gay,  John,  87. 
Gentle  Shepherd,  by  Allan  Ramsay, 

114. 
Geoffrey   of  Monmouth,   an    early 

chronicler,  19. 
Gibbon,  Edward,  107. 
Gifford,  William,  152. 
Giles,  Henry,  286. 
Gillies,  John,  160. 
Gilman,  Mrs.  Caroline  H.,  261. 
Gilmore,  J.  R.,  "  Edmund  Kirke,"  289. 
Gladstone,  William  E.,  200. 
Gloucester,  Robert  of,  21. 
Godkin,  E.  L.,  280. 
Godwin,  William,  128 ;  Parke,  280. 
Goethe's  Faust,  translated  by  Bayard 

Taylor,  286. 
Golden  Fleece,  Vaughan's,  220. 
Golden  Tiegend,  by  Longfellow,  266. 
Goldsmith,  OUyer,  111. 
Good  Ifetves,  by  Alexander  Whitaker, 

220. 
Good-Natured  Man,  by  Goldsmith, 

113. 
Goodrich,  S.  G.,  "Peter  Parley,"  263. 
Gould,  Hannah  F.,  239. 
Gotver,  John,  25. 
"Grace  Greenwood,"  Sara  J.  Lippin- 

cott,  293. 
Grahame,  Rev.  James,  123. 
Grammar,  English,  by  Lowth,  116 ;  by 

Murray,  134. 
Grave,  The,  a  poem,  by  R.  Blair,  88, 


316 


INDEX. 


Gray,  Thomas,  113. 

Greece,  History  of,  by  Mitford,  160;  by 

Gillies,  160. 
Greeley,  Horace,  278. 
Greene,  Robert,  45. 
Groat's    Worth   of  Wit,  by    Robert 

Greene,  45. 
Griffith  Gaunt,  by  Reade,  193. 
Gi'iswohl,  Riiius  W.,  247. 
Grote,  George,  206. 
Guardian,  The,  91. 
Gulliver's  Travels,  by  Swift,  93. 
Guyarre,  Charles  E.  A.,  245. 
Giiyot,  Arnold  H.,  299. 
Gypsies,  by  Borrow,  168. 

Sahington,  William,  69. 
ITacJcett,  Horatio  B.,o06. 
Sail  Columbia,  by  Joseph  Hopkinson, 

234. 
SaJcluyt,  Richard,  51. 
Hale,  Mrs.  Sarah  Josepha,  262. 
Hall,  Joseph,  Bishop,  72  ;  Robert,  157. 
Halleek,  Fitz-Greene,  238. 
Hallam,  Henry,  174. 
Hamilton,  Sir  William,  201 ;  Alexander, 

229. 
HansBreitmann,  by  C.  E.  Leland,  284. 
Harris,  James,  108. 
Harte,  Bret,  272. 
Hartley,  David,  98. 
Hathaway ,  Anne,  wife  of  Shakespeare, 

46. 
Haunch  of  Venison,  by  Goldsmith, 

112. 
Haven,  Mrs.  Alice  B.,  243. 
Hau^thorne,  Nathaniel,  288. 
Hazlitt,  William,  153. 
Heathen  Chinee,  by  Bret  Harte,  272. 
Heber,  Reginald,  147. 
Hebrew  JPoetry,  by  Lowth,  116. 
Heir  of  Itedclyffe,  by  Miss  Yonge,  197. 
Helps,  Arthur,  208. 
Helper,  Hinton  Rowan,  299, 
Jfenions,  Mrs.  Felicia,  145. 
Jlcurf/son,  Robert,  Scotch  poet,  30. 
Hciirif,  Matthew,  82;  Joseph,  251. 
Hcntz,  Caroline  Lee,  244. 
Jl<i'(ihl,  New  York,  278. 
Herbert,  George,  43. 
Hermes,  by  Harris,  108. 
Hermit,  by  rarnell,  88 ;  by  Goldsmith, 

112. 
HerricTc,  Robert,  68. 
Hervey,  James,  116. 
Hiawatha,  by  Longfellow,  266. 
Higginson,  Ool.  T.  W.,  277. 


Hill,  Gen.  D.  H.,  278. 

Hind  and  J'niit/ier,  by  Dryden,  78. 

Histrio-Mttstijc,  by  W.  Prynne,  69. 

HitcJicoch,  Edward,  252. 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  70. 

Hodge,  Charles,  301. 

Hoffman,  Charles  Fenno,  242. 

Hogg,  Jumes,  147. 

Hohenlinden,  by  Campbell,  142. 

Holland,  J.  G.,  269.      - 

Holy  TAving,  by  Jeremy  Taylor,  72. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  275 ;   Mary  J., 

294. 
Holy  and  Profane  State,  by  Thomas 

Fuller,  73. 
Home,  Sweet  Home,  by  Payne,  238. 
Home,  John,  author  of  Douglas,  124. 
Home  Journal,  New  York,  242. 
Homer,  translation    by  Pope,  86;    by 

Cowper,  121. 
Hood,  Thomas,  165. 
Hook,  Theodore,  165, 
Hooker,  Richard,  52. 
Hope,  Pleasures  of,  by  Campbell,  142, 
Hope  Leslie,  by  Miss  Sedgwick,  240. 
Hopkinson,  Francis,  230;  Joseph,  234. 
HorcB  Faulince,  by  Paley,  129. 
Home,  Thomas  Hartwell,  211. 
Horse-Shoe  Jtobinson,  by  Kennedy, 

241. 
Howadji,  by  Curtis,  277. 
Howe,  John,  74. 
Howells,  W.  D.,  277, 
Howitt,  William  and  Mary,  212. 
Hudibras,  by  Samuel  Butler,  68. 
Hughes,  Thomas,  194  ;  Archbishop,  309. 
Human  Understanding ,  by  Locke, 

80. 
Htime,  David,  106. 

Humphrey  Clinker,  by  Smollett,  111, 
Hurlbiit,  W.  H.,  279, 
Hutclieson,  Francis,  98. 
Hutchinson,  John,  98. 
Hyde,  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  69. 
Hymnody,  English,  60. 
Hymns,  by  Charles  Wesley,  135 ;   by 

Toplady,  136. 
Hymns  in  Prose,  by  Mrs.  T.ailiauld, 

158. 
Hyperion,  by  Keats,  141;    by    Long- 
fellow, 266. 

Ideal  Theory,  combated  by  Tx-id.  i:.!>. 
Idler,  by  Dr.  Johnson,  1<VJ. 
Idyls  of  the  King,  by  TnuiyM.n.  !«-J. 
(' Ik  Marvel,"  BouiM  C.  Miulirll.  ;:-.'. 
II  Penseroso,  by  Miltuu,  (U. 


INDEX. 


317 


Imagination,  Pleasures  of,  by  Aken- 
side,  114. 

Impending  Crisis,  by  Helper,  299. 

Inchbald,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  123. 

Ingelow,  Jean,  186. 

Ingersoll,  Charles  J.,  245. 

Inr/ohlsh)/  Legends,  by  Barham,  165. 

In  Menun'iani,  by  Tennyson,  182. 

Innocents  Abi^oad,  by  Mark  Twain, 
284. 

Instauratio  Magna,  by  Lord  Bacon, 
50. 

Intellectual  System  of  the  Uni- 
verse, by  Cudworth,  73. 

Interludes,  their  origin,  44. 

Irene,  by  Dr.  Johnson,  102. 

Irish  Melodies,  by  Moore,  140, 

Irving,  Washington,  244. 

J^acobus,  M.  W.,  303. 

James,  G.  P.  R.,  195. 

tTames  I.,  of  Scotland,  a  poet,  29. 

tTanieson,  Mrs.  Anna,  200. 

tfane  Eyre,  by  Charlotte  Bronte,  169. 

tTay,  Jolin,  229. 

tlefferson,  Thomas,  229. 

Jeffrey,  Francis,  Lord,  170. 

tlerrold,  Douglas,  200. 

John  Gilpin,  by  Cowper,  121. 

John  Halifax,  by  Miss  Mulock,  196. 

Jo7i}tson,  Samuel,  225  ;  Samuel,  101. 

Jones,  Sir  William,  132 ;  Joel,  257. 

Jonson,  Ben,  47. 

Joseph  Andrews,  1)y  Fielding-,  110. 

''JosJi  Billings,"  11.  W.  Shaw,  2S4. 

Judson,  Mrs.  Emily,  243. 

Junius,  Letters  of,  105. 

Just  as  lam,  by  Charlotte  Elliott,  186. 

Kdines,  Henry  Home,  Lord,  107. 

Kane,  Elisha  K.,  252. 

Kathrina,  by  J.  G.  Holland,  269. 

Keats,  John,  141. 

Keble,3o\\v.,  103. 

Ken,  Bishop,  82. 

Kennedy,  John  P.,  240, 

KenrieU,  Archbishop,  308. 

jreitf,  James,  235. 

Key,  Francis  S.,  234. 

Kilcolman  Castle,  the  residence  of 

SiK'iiser  in  Ireland,  38. 
Kihnansegg,  Miss,  by  Hood,  165. 
Kimball,  Ricliard  B.,  289. 
King's  Quhair,  The,  by  James  I.,  29. 
Kinglahe,  Alexander  W.,  208. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  194. 

27* 


Kinney,  Mrs.  E.  C,  271. 
Kirk,  John  Foster,  296. 
Kirkland,  Mrs.  Caroline  M.,  243. 
KnicJcerbocher,  by  Irving,  244. 
Knickerbocker  3Iagazine,  by  Hoff- 
man, 242. 
Knife- Gri7ider,  by  Canning,  153. 
Krauth,  C.  P.,  305. 

la  Horde,  Maximilian,  286. 

Lady .  of  the  Lake,  by  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  148. 

Lady's  Book,  by  Mrs.  Hale,  262. 

Lake  Boets,  origin  of  the  name,  143. 

Lallah  Bookh,  by  Moore,  140. 

U Allegro,  by  Milton,  64. 

Lamb,  Charles,  159. 

Landoti,  Elizabeth,  146, 

Landor,  Walter  Savage,  173. 

Landscape  Gardening,  by  A,  J, 
Downing,  263, 

Lange's  Commentary, hy  SchafF,  305. 

Langland,  William,  the  supposed  au- 
thor of  Piers  Plowman,  26. 

Language,  Science  of,  by  Whitney,  300. 

Lardner,  Nathaniel,  117. 

Latham,  Prof.,  199. 

Latimer,  Hugh,  English  Bishop,  34. 

Law,  William,  116. 

Layamon,  an  account  of  his  Chronicle, 
19. 

Lay  of  the  Last  3Iinstrel,  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  148. 

Leather- Stocking  Tales,  by  Cooper, 
240. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  202. 

Ledger,  New  York,  276. 

Lee,  Mrs.  E.  P.,  294 ;  Nathaniel  S.,  79. 

Legare,  Hugh  S.,  250. 

Leland,  John,  100  ;  Charles  G.,  284. 

Leslie,  Charles,  99  ;  Eliza,  242. 

Lever,  Charles,  194. 

Leviatlian,  by  Hobbes,  70. 

Lewes,  Mrs.  Marian  (Evans),  196. 

Lewis,  Sir  George  Cornewall,  199  ;  Tay- 
lor, 303. 

Liberty  of  Prophesying ,  by  Jeremy 
Taylor,  72. 

Lieber,  Francis,  250. 

Lindsay,  Sir  David,  32. 

Lingard,  John,  178. 

Lippincott,  Sara  J.,  "Grace  Green- 
wood," 293. 

Literature,  how  defined,  17. 

Little  Henry  and  his. Bearer,  177. 

Idttle  Women,  by  Miss  Alcott,  293. 


318 


INDEX, 


lAves  of  the  Foets,  by  Dr.  Johnson, 

102. 
lAving  Temple,  by  Howe,  74. 
I/iving  Writers  of  the  South,  by  J. 

Wood  Davidson,  'lib. 
ILockhart,  John  Gibson,  173. 
LochieVs  Warning,  by  Campbell,  142. 
Zioche,  John,  79. 
Tjogan,  James,  224. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  265. 
Iiongstreet,  Judge,  285. 
Tiossing,  Benson  J.,  298. 
liost  Cause,  by  Pollard,  296. 
Lover,  Samuel,  195. 
Lotvell,  James  Russell,  272. 
Jjovoth,  Bishop,  116. 
Lycidas,  by  Milton,  64. 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  204. 
Lyly,  John,  45. 
Lyrical  Hallads,  by  Wordsworth  and 

Coleridge,  162. 
Lyttelton,  Lord  George,  108. 
Lytton,  Sir  George  Edward  Bulwer,  190. 

Wacatilay,  Thomas  Babington,  205. 
McClintocTi,  John,  306. 
WeCosh,  James,  302. 
Mcmngal,  by  Trumbull,  231. 
McGuffey,  W.  II.,  301. 
Mcllvaine,  Bishop,  307. 
Mcintosh,  Maria  J.,  240. 
WcKnight,  James,  136. 
Mackenzie,  11.   Shelton,   282;    Henry, 

127. 
3Iackintosh,  Sir  James,  152. 
McMichael,  Morton,  281. 
"  Madeline  Leslie,**  Mrs.  Baker,  295. 
Madison,  James,  229. 
Magnalia   Christi  Americana,  by 

Cotton  Mather,  223. 
Malthas,  Thomas  Robert,  156. 
Mandeville,  Sir  John,  27. 
Mann,  Horace,  263. 
Manning,  Archbishop,  209. 
Man  of  Feeling,  by  Mackenzie,  127. 
Marble  Faun,  by  Hawthorne,  288. 
*'  Marion  Ilarland^'  Mrs.  Terliune, 

294. 
('Mark  Twain,"  S.  L.  Clemens,  284. 
Marhnve,  Christopher,  46. 
3rarmion,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  148. 
Marryat,  dipt.  Frederick,  168. 
Marsh,  George  P.,  253. 
Marshall,  John,  236. 
Marston,  John,  48. 
Mary  Barton,  by  Mrs.  Gaskill,  196. 


Massinger,  Philip,  49. 

Mather,  Richard,  222;  Increase,  222; 
Cotton,  223. 

3Iaud,  by  Tennyson,  182. 

Maury,  Matthew  F.,  300. 

Meditations,  by  Hervey,  116. 

Melancholy,  Anatomy  of,  51. 

Melville,  Herman,  290. 

Memory,  Pleasures  of,  by  Rogers,  142. 

Merle  and  Nightingale,  by  Dunbar, 
30. 

Method  of  L>ivine  Government,  by 
McCosh,  302. 

Methodism,  History  of,  by  Abel  Ste- 
vens, 307. 

Metrical  Itomances,  22. 

Mlddleton,  Thomas,  48  ;  Conyers,  97. 

3Liles  StandisJi,  by  Longfellow,  266. 

3Iill,  John  Stuart,  199. 

Miller,  Hugh,  174;  Samuel,  256;  Joa- 
quin, 272. 

31illigan,  Robert,  307. 

Milman,  Henry  Hart,  207. 

Milner,  Joseph,  136. 

3Iilton,  John,  63. 

Minstrel,  The,  by  Beattie,  122. 

Minute  Philosopher,  by  Bishop  Berke- 
ley, 95. 

Miracles,  Essay  on,  by  Hume,  106. 

3Iiracle  Flays,  43. 

Mirror,  New  York,  242. 

Mirror  for  Magistrates,  by  Sack- 
Tille,  41. 

3Iitc7iell,  Donald  G.,  "  Ik  IMarvel,"  289. 

intford,  William,  160;  Mary  Russel, 
167. 

Modern  CJiivalry,  by  Brackenridge, 
230. 

Modern  Fainters,  by  Ruskin,  198. 

3Ionmouth,  Geoffrey  of,  19. 

Montagu,  Lady  Mary,  109  ;  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth, 109. 

3fontgomery,  James,  166  ;  Robert,  166. 

3Ioore,  Thomas,  140. 

Moral  Fhilosophy,  by  Paley,  129  ;  by 
Ferguson,  130;  by  Dugald  Stewart, 
154. 

Moral  Flays,  or  Moralities,  44. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  31;  Hannah,  125. 

Morgan,La{lj  Sydney,  107. 

Morning  Star  of  the  Jirformation, 
a  name  given  to  Wyckliffo,  26. 

Morris,  William,  186;  George  P.,  242. 

3Iotley,  John  Lothrop,  296. 

"  Mrs.  Mary  Clavers,"  Mrs.  Kirk- 
land,  243. 


INDEX. 


319 


Miiller,  Max,  198. 
Mtilock,  Miss  Dinah  Maria,  196. 
Murray,  Lindley,  134. 
Music,  History  of,  by  Dr.  Burney,  126. 
My  stein  es  of  JJdolpho,  by  Mrs.  Rad- 
clifife,  127. 

Nation,  by  E.  L.  Godkin,  280. 

Natural  TJieology,  by  Paley,  129. 

Neal,  John,  241 ;  Joseph  C,  241 ;  Daniel, 
100. 

Nelson,  Southey's  Life  of,  143. 

Newcotne,  Archbishop,  137. 

Newell,  I'rof.  M.  A.,  301. 

New  England's  Prospect,  by  Wil- 
liam Wood,  220. 

Newman,  John  Henry,  208, 

Newton,  Thomas,  117  ;  John,  121, 

Night  Thoughts,  1)y  Young,  114. 

Noctes  Ambrosiance,  by  John  Wilson, 
172. 

Normal  Schools,  by  Henry  Barnard, 
287. 

Norman-French,  its  relation  to  Eng- 
lish, 17. 

North,  Christopher,  John  Wilson,  171. 

North  A.merican,  Philadelphia,  281. 

Norton,  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  S.,  184. 

Novum  Organum,  by  Lord  Bacon,  50. 

Ode  on  the  Passions,  by  Collins,  113. 
Odenheimer,  Bishop,  307. 
Ogden,  John,  287. 
Old'Fashioned  Girl,  by  Miss  Alcott, 

293. 
Old  Oaken  Bucket,  by  Wood  worth, 

234. 
*<  Oliver  Optic,'*  W.  T.  Adams,  291. 
Olmsted,  Denison,  251. 
Olney,  abode  of  Cowper  and  Newton, 

120. 
Olney  Hymns,  121, 
Opie,  Amelia,  167. 
Opitim  Eater,  De  Quincey,  172. 
Ormulum,  The,  20. 
Ornithology,   American,    by   Wilson, 

234;  by  Audubon,  235. 
Osgood,  Mrs.  Frances,  238. 
Otway,  Thomas,  79. 
Outre-Mer,  by  Longfellow,  2G6. 
Ovid's    Metamorphoses,    translated 

by  Whitaker,  220. 
Owen,  John,  75  ;  Richard,  204. 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  233 ;  Thomas,  127. 
Paley,  William,  129. 


Palfrey,  John  G.,  245. 
Pamela,  by  Richardson,  110. 
Pantisocracy,  scheme  by  Southey  and 

Coleridge,  144. 
Paradise  Eost,  by  Milton,  66. 
Paradise  Regained,  66. 
ParisJi  Register,  by  Crabbe,  146. 
Parker,  Theodore,  259. 
Parnell,  Thomas,  88. 
Parton,  James,  275  ;  Mrs.  Sarah,  276. 
Passions,  Ode  on,  by  Collins,  113. 
Paulding,  James  K.,  241. 
Payne,  John  Howard,  238. 
Peabody,  Andrew  P.,  305. 
Pearson,  John,  Bishop,  73. 
Peele,  George,  46. 
Peg  Woffirigton,  by  Reade,  193, 
Penn,  William,  83, 
Perception,  Immediate,  by  Reid,  130. 
Percival,  James  G.,  238. 
Percy,  Bishop,  133. 
Peregrine  Pickle,  by  Smollett,  111. 
Peter  Bell,  by  Wordsworth,  163. 
'^  Peter  Parley,"  S.  G.  Goodrich,  263. 
Peter  Porcupine,  name  for  Cobbet,  153. 
Peterso)!,  Charles  J.,  290. 
Phalaris,  Epistles  of,  96. 
Phelps,  Mrs.  Almira  Hart,  261. 
Philips,  Ambrose,  87. 
Physical  Geography,  by  Prof.  Guyot, 

299. 
PictoHal  Field  Book  of  the  Rev- 
olution, Lossing's,  298. 
Pierpont,  John,  238. 
Piers  Plowman,  a  satirical  poem,  25, 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  by  Bunyan,  75, 
Pilot,  by  Cooper,  239. 
Plays  on  the  Passions,  by  Joanna 

Baillie,  145. 
Pleasures,  of  Hope,  by  Campbell,  142  ; 

of  Memory,  by  Rogers,  142. 
Pleasures  of  Imagination,  by  Aken- 

side,  114, 
Plumer,  W.  S.,  304. 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  237. 
Poesie,  Defence  of,  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 

40. 
<^  Poet-Painter,"  T.  Buchanan  Read, 

268. 
Poetry,  English,  History  of,  132. 
Poets  and  Poetry  of  America,  by 

Griswold,  248. 
Political  tTustice,  by  Godwin,  128. 
Pollard,  Edward  A.,  296. 
Pollok,  Robert,  148. 
Poly-Olbion,  by  Drayton,  42, 


320 


INDEX 


Poor  Hichard's  Almanac,  by  Frank- 
lin, 228. 

Pope,  Alexander,  85. 

Porter,  Jane,  151 ;  Noah,  302. 

''Porte  Crayon,"  D.  11.  Strothor,  286. 

Post,  N.  Y.  Eveuitio:,*280. 

Potiphar  Papers,  by  Curtis,  277. 

Potter,  Alonzo,  259. 

Prayet'-Booh,  its  history,  58. 

Prentice,  George  D.,  281. 

Prescott,  ^Villiuin  IL,  295. 

Press,  PhiUuUlplua,  2S1. 

Preston,  Mrs.  Maryurut  J.,  270. 

Prime,  S.  Irciueus,  283. 

Princess,  by  Tennyson,  182. 

Printing,  effect  of  its  invention  on  au- 
thorship, 33. 

Printinff  Press,  first  in  America,  221. 

Prior,  Matthew,  87. 

Prisoner  of  Chillon,  bj'  Byron,  140. 

Procter,  Bryan  W.,  and  Adelaide,  185. 

Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table, 
by  Holmes,  275. 

Prose  Writers  of  America,  by  Gris- 
wold,  248. 

Prymer,  The  Old  English,  59. 

Prynne,  William,  69. 

Psalm  of  Life,  by  Longfellow,  266. 

Psalmody,  Knglish,  60. 

Psalter,  English,  60. 

Puritans,  History  of,  by  Neal,  100. 

Purley,  Diversions  of,  137. 

Purple  Island,  The,  by  Phineas 
Fletcher,  43. 

Pusey,  Edward  B.,  209. 

Quakers,  or  Friends,  83. 

Quaker  Poet,  Bernard  Barton,  166. 

Quarles,  Francis,  G9. 

Queens  of  England,  by  Agnes  Strick- 
land, 208. 

Queen  Mab,  by  Shelley,  141. 

Queen's  Wake,  by  Hogg,  147. 

Quhair,  The  King's,  by  James  I.,  29. 

Quincunxial  Lozenge,  by  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  71. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  262. 

JtadcUffe,  Mr.s.  Anna,  1-27. 
Ltaleigh,  Sir  Walter,  40. 
Jtalph  Royster  Doyster,  44. 
Jtamhler,  by  Dr.  Johnson,  102.    ' 
Jlamsay,  Allan,  114;  David,  232. 
Randolph,  Anson  D.  F.,  272. 
Rape  of  the  Lock,  by  Popo,  S6. 
RasselaSfhy  Dr.  Johnson,  102. 


Raven,  by  Poe,  237. 

Raymond,  Henry  J.,  278. 

Read,  T.  Buchanan,  269. 

Reade,  Charles,  193. 

Reed,  Henry,  247. 

Reid,  Thomas,  130 ;  Mayne,  193  ;  White- 
law,  282. 

Reader,  English,  Murray's,  134. 

Recollectioihs  of  a  Southern  Ma- 
tron, by  Mrs.  Oilman,  261. 

Red  Rover,  by  Cooper,  240. 

Redivood,  by  Miss  Sedgwick,  240. 

Rehearsal,  by  Buckingham,  a  satire  on 
Dryden,  78. 

Religio  Laid,  hy  Dryden,  78. 

Religio  Medici,  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne, 
70. 

Religion  of  Nature,  by  Wollaston,  97. 

Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry,  by 
Bishop  Percy,  133. 

Retaliation,  by  Goldsmith,  112. 

Rhetoric,  by  Blair,  131 ;  by  Campbell, 
131. 

Rhyme  of  the  Rail,  by  Saxe,  269. 

Ricardo,  David,  156. 

Richards,  Thomas,  early  dramatist,  44. 

Richardson,  Samuel,  110 ;  Charles,  214. 

Richmond,  Legh,  157. 

Ridgley,  Thomas,  100. 

Rights  of  Man,  by  Thomas  Paine,  127. 

Ripley,  George,  2S1. 

Rise  and  Progress,  by  Doddridge, 
100. 

Ritchie,  Anna  CoraMowatt,  293. 

Robertson,  William,  107  ;  Frederick  W. 
210. 

Robert  of  Brunne,  an  early  Chroni- 
cler, 22. 

Robert  of  Gloucester,  an  early  Chroni- 
cler, 21. 

Robinson,  Henry  Crabb,  214 ;  Edward, 
258. 

Robinson  Crusoe,  by  De  Foe,  97. 

Roderick  Random,  by  Smollett,  111. 

Rogers,  Samuel,  142. 

Roilo  Books,  by  Jacob  Abbott,  292. 

Romance,  Metrical,  22. 

Roman  Republic,  History  of,  by  Fer- 
guson, 130. 

Roscoe,  William,  159. 

Roscommon,  Earl  of,  78. 

Rouse,  Francis,  his  Version  of  the 
Psalms,  61. 

Rugby,  Arnold  of,  179. 

Rush,  James,  253. 

Ruskin,  John,  198. 


INDEX 


321 


Jtussell,  William  H.,  Correspondent  of 

London  Times,  215. 
**  JRuth  JPartinffton,"  B.  P.  Shillaber, 

284. 

Sdbhath,  The,  a  poem,  by  Grahame,  123. 

Sackville,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Dorset,  41, 

Sadlier,  Mrs.  James,  295. 

Saints'  Best,  by  Baxter,  75. 

St.  JohUf  Henry,  Yiscount  Bolingbroke, 
94. 

Samson,  George  W.,  306. 

Satnson  Agonistes,  by  Milton,  66. 

Sanderson,  John,  241. 

Sandys,  George,  220. 

Sanscrit,  study  introduced  by  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones,  132. 

Sardanapalus,  by  Byron,  140. 

Sargent,  Epes,  28G. 

Sartor  Besartus,  by  Carlyle,  197. 

Saxe,  John  G.,  269. 

Scarlet  Letter,  by  Hawthorne,  288. 

Science  of  Language,  by  Max  Miil- 
ler,  198. 

Schaff,  Philip,  305. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  263. 

Schoolmaster,  The,  by  Roger  Ascham, 
50. 

Schoolmistress,  liy  Slicnstone,  IIG. 

School  for  Scdtidnl.  hy  Sheridan,  124. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  148;  Thomas,  156;  W. 
A.,  30i. 

Scottish  Chiefs,  by  Jane  Porter,  151. 

Scriblerus  €lub,WZ. 

Seasons,  The,  by  Thomson,  88. 

SedgwicU,  Catherine  M.,  240. 

Serieg,  Prof.  John  R.,  210. 

Sentitnental  Journey,  hy  Sterue,  111. 

Serious  Call,  Law's,  117. 

Seven  Deadly  Sins,  The  Dance  of,  30. 

Shadwell,  Thomas,  79. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  93. 

Shakespeare,  William,  46. 

Shaw,  11.  W.,  "  Josh  Billings,"  284. 

*/te«,  J.Gil  mary,  297. 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T.,  303. 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  140. 

Shenstone,  William,  114. 

Shepard,  Thomas,  221. 

Shepherd's  Calendar,  by  Spenser,  38. 

Shej^herd  of  Salisbury  Plain,  by 
Hannah  Jlore,  125. 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  123. 

Sheridan's  Bide,  by  T.  B.  Read,  269. 

Sherwood,  Mrs.  Mary  M.,  177. 


She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  by  Goldsmith, 
113. 

Shillaber,  B.  P.,"  Ruth  Partington,"  284. 

Shindler,  Mrs.  Mary  S.,  239. 

Shipwrecli,  The,  by  Falconer,  114. 

Shirley,  James,  49. 

Short  Method  tvitJi  Deists,  by  Leslie, 
99. 

Shorter  Catechism,  The,  60. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  39. 

Sigonrney,  Lydia  H.,  2G0. 

Sillinian,  Benjamin,  251. 

Simms,  W.  Gilmore,  289. 

Sir  Charles  Grandison,  by  Richard- 
son, 110. 

Skelton,  John,  poet,  34. 

Sketch  Book,  by  Irving,  244. 

Small-pox,  Inoculation  for,  introduced 
by  Lady  Mary  Montagu,  109. 

Smith,  Adam,  128;  Sydney,  169;  William, 
215  ;  Seba,  285  ;  Mrs.  E.  Oakes,  293. 

Smollett,  Tobias  George,  111. 

Smyth,  Thomas,  304. 

Snou'-Boiind,  by  Whittier,  268. 

Song  oftJie  Shirt,  by  Hood,  165. 

Songs  of  the  Sierras,  by  Joaquin  Mil- 
ler, 272. 

South,  Robert,  82. 

Soil  they,  Kobert,143. 

Soufhiri-U,  Robert,  41. 

Southern  TJar2^, hy  Mrs.  Shindler, 239. 

Sjxilding,  Archbishop,  309. 

SjHtnish  Literature,  History  of,  296. 

Sjtarks,  .lared,  i^lo. 

SiM'ciihtm  Meditantis,  by  Qow^er,  25, 

Sjtectator,  by  Addison,  91. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  202. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  38. 

Spensei'lan  Stanza,  39. 

Spofford,  Mrs.  Harriet  E.,  293, 

Sprague,  Charles,  238;  W.  B.,  257. 

Spy,  by  Cooper,  240. 

Stackhouse,  Thomas,  99. 

Star  of  Bethlehem,  by  Kirke  White, 
141. 

Star- Spangled  Banner,  by  Francis  S. 
Key,  234. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  91;  Anne,  114;  J. 
Dorman,  300. 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  298. 

Sterne,  Lawrence,  111. 

Sternhold  a/td!J/o2>fetw*, their  Psalter, 
6L 

Stevens,  Abel,  307. 

Stewart,  Dugald,  154. 

Stillingfleet,  Edward,  82. 


322 


INDEX 


Stone,  William  L.,  245 ;  John  S.,  308. 

Story,  Joseph,  "236. 

Stoive,  Harriet  Beecher,  292, 

Street,  Alfred  B.,  270. 

Strickland,  Agnes,  207. 

Strother,  Gen.  D.  H.,  "  Porte  Crayon," 
286. 

Stuart,  Moses,  258  ;  George,  301. 

Sublime  and  Seautiful,  Burke's  Es- 
say on,  104. 

Suckling,  Sir  John,  68. 

Sumner,  Charles,  298. 

Sun,  N.  York,  281. 

Surrey,  The  Earl  of,  a  poet,  35. 

Swallow  Barn,  by  J.  P.  Kennedy,  241. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  92. 

Swinton,  William,  287. 

Table-Talk,  Coleridge's,  145. 
Tale  of  a  Tub,  by  Swift,  93. 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  by  Walter 

Scott,  149. 
Task,  by  Cowper,  121. 
Tar  Water,  recommended    by  Bishop 

Berkeley,  95. 
Tate  and  Brady,  their  version  of  the 

Psalms,  61. 
Tatler,  by  Addison,  91. 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  72;  John,  69;   Isaac, 

177 ;  Bayard,  285. 
Temple,  Sir  William,  81. 
Tennyson,  Alfred,  181. 
Ten  Thousand  a  Year,  by  Warren, 

195. 
Tent  on  the  Beach,  by  Whittier,  263. 
Terhune,  Mary  Virginia,  "Marion  Har- 

land,"  294. 
Terrible  Tractoration,  by  Fessenden, 

233. 
Thackeray,  William  M.,  189. 
Tliaddeus  of  Warsaw,  by  Jane  Por- 
ter, 151. 
Theology,  Systematic,  by  Hodge,  302, 
Thomas,  Joseph,  297.     • 
Thompson,  John  11.,  280. 
Thomson,  James,  88. 
'Jlioreau,  Henry  D.,  289. 
ThornweU,  James  H.,  257. 
Ticknor,  George,  296. 
Tillotson,  John,  81. 
Tilton,  Theodore,  283. 
Times,  London,  215,  216. 
Times,  New  York,  278. 
*' Timothy    Titcomb,"  J.  G.  Holland, 

269. 
Totn  Brown,  at  Rugby,  194. 


Tom  fTones,  by  Fielding,  110. 
Tooke,  John  Horue,  131. 
Tojilady,  Augustus,  136. 
Townsend,  Georjre  Alfred,  282. 
Toxophilus,  by  Roger  Ascham,  50. 
Tracts  for  the  Times,  176. 
Traveller,  by  Goldsmith,  112. 
Trench,  Richard  Chevenix,  212. 
Tribune,  New  York,  278. 
Tristram  Shandy,  by  Sterne,  111, 
Trollope,  Mrs.  Frances,  Anthony,  Thom- 
as A.,  192. 
Trowbridge,  J.  T.,  277. 
Trumbull,  John,  231. 
Tuckerman,  Henry  T.,  273. 
Turner,  Sharon,  179 ;  Samuel,  259. 
Tusser,  Thomas,  36. 
Tuthill,  Mrs.  Louisa  C,  262, 
Tyler,  Moses  Coit,  273. 
Tyndall,  John,  204. 
Tyng,  Stephen  IL,  308. 
Tyrwhitt,  Thomas,  108. 

ZTdall,  Nicholas,  author  of  the  first  Eng- 
lish Comedy,  44. 

JIdolpho,  Mysteries  of,  by  Sirs.  Rad- 
cliffe,  127. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  by  Mrs.  Stoive, 
292. 

TIntvin,  Mary,  friend  of  Cowper,  120. 

Uphani,  Thomas  C,  258, 

Usher,  James,  72. 

Utopia,  by  Sir  Thomas  More,  34. 

Vagabonds,  by  Trowbridge,  277. 

Van  Brugh,  Sir  John,  89. 

Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  hy  John- 
son, 102. 

Vaughan,  Sir  William,  220. 

Verplanck,  Gulian  C,  247. 

Village,  The,  by  Crabbe,  140. 

Villette,  by  Charlotte  Bronte,  169. 

Virginia  Comedians,  by  J.  Esten 
Cooke,  290. 

Vision,  New  Theory  of,  by  Berkeley,  95. 

Voice,  Philosophy  of,  by  Rush,  253. 

VoM  Clamantis,  by  Gower,  25, 

Wace,a.  Norman-French  poet,  19, 
Walker,  John,  13:5. 

Wallace,   Sir  William,   Blind    Harry's 
poem  of  him,  30;  Horace  Biuney,  247. 
Waller,  Edmund,  67. 
Walton,  Tzaak,  71. 
Warburton,  Bishop,  116. 
Warren,  Samuel,  195. 


INDEX. 


323 


Warren   Hastings,   Speech    against 

him  by  Sheritlau,  124. 
War  field,  Mrs.  C.  A.,  294. 
Wai'ner,  Susan  and  Anna,  292. 
Warton,  Thomas,  132. 
Wasliingtonf  George,  228. 
Watson,  Bishop,  137. 
Watts,  Isaac,  his  Psalms  and  Hymns,  62. 
Waverley  Novels,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 

149. 
Wayland,  Francis,  260. 
Wealth  of  Nations,  by  Adam  Smith, 

128. 
Webster,  John,  49 ;  Noah,  235 ;  Daniel, 

248. 
Welsh,  their  traditions,  18. 
Wesley,  John  and  Charles,  135,  62;  Life 

by  Soiithpy,143. 
Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  60. 
Wlmtely,  Richard,  211. 
What  I  Know  about  Farming,  by 

Greeley,  278. 
Wheaton,  Henry,  250. 
Whedon,  Daniel  D.,  307. 
Whewell,  William,  203. 
Whipple,  Edwin  P.,  273. 
Whiston,  William,  98. 
WhitaJeer,  Alexander,  220. 
White,    Henry     Kjrke,    141;    Richard 

Grant,  273. 
Whitefleld,  George,  135. 
White  Doe  of  Itylstone,  by  Words- 
worth, 163. 
Whitney,  William  Dwight,  300 ;  Mrs.  A. 

D.  J.; 294. 
Whittier,  John  6.,  267. 
Wide,  Wide  World,  by  Susan  Warner, 

292. 


WicUersham,  James  P.,  287. 
Wilhird,  Mrs.  Emma,  261. 
Wilklns,  John,  Bishop,  71. 
Williams,  Roger,  222. 
Willis,  N.  P.,  242. 
Wilson,3o\\n,ll].;  Alexander, 234;  Mrs. 

A.  G.,  294. 
Winthrop,  Theodore,  288. 
Wirt,  William,  234. 
Wiseman,  Cardinal,  209. 
Wither,  George,  67. 
Wither  simoon,  John,  230. 
Wollaston,  William,  97. 
Woolman,  John,  225. 
Woman's  Record,  by  Mrs.  Hale,  262. 
Women  of  the  Mevolution,  by  Mrs. 

Ellet,  297. 
Wood,  William,  220. 
Woodman,   Spare    that    Tree,    by 

Morris,  242. 
Woodworth,  Samuel,  234. 
Worcester,  Joseph  E.,  252. 
Wordsworth,  William,  161. 
World,  New  York,  279. 
World,  before  the  Flood,  by  James 

Montgomery,  166. 
Worthies  of  England,  by  Thomas 

Fuller,  73. 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  35. 
Wycherley,  William,  89. 
WychUffe,  John,  26. 
Wyntoun,  Andrew,  28. 

Yesterdays  ivith  Authors,  by  J.  T. 

Fields,  270. 
Tonge,  Charlotte,  196. 
Young  Christian,  by  Jacob  Abbot,  292. 
Toung,  Edward,  114. 


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A  greater  help  to  the  Teacher  never  was  invented.  It  will  revo- 
lutionize the  whole  work  of  teaching.  By  the  increased  power  of 
expression  which  it  gives  to  the  pupil,  it  doubles  his  progress  in 
every  study.  There  is  not  a  school  but  in  which  a  class  can  be 
formed  for  its  advantageous  use.  Any  pupil  able  to  read  tolerably 
well  can  use  it  to  advantage. 

Hart's  Composition  and  Rhetoric  has  been  prepared  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  wants  of  both  teacher  and  scholar  in  this  impor- 
tant branch  of  education,  and  the  author  has  spared  no  pains  to 
make  the  book  eminently  practical  and  adapted  to  use  in  the  class- 
room. Dr.  Hart  has  been  engaged  for  more  than  one-third  of  a 
century  in  the  practical  duties  of  the  school-room,  and  for  years 
past  has  made  a  specialty  of  the  subject  of  which  the  present  volume 
treats.  The  great  variety  and  copiousness  of  the  "  Examples  for 
Practice"  will  commend  the  book  to  general  favor.  In  this  r-espect 
it  is  unequalled  by  any  similar  work  heretofore  published. 

Hart's  Short  Course  in  Literature,  English  and  American,  is 
intended  as  a  text-book  for  Schools  and  Academies.  It  is  designed 
for  the  use  of  those  who  have  not  the  time  to  devote  to  the  study 
of  Literature  as  laid  down  in  the  larger  books  of  the  Series. 

Hart's  Manual  of  English  Literature  is  intended  as  a  text  book 
for  Colleges,  and  as  a  book  of  reference. 

Hart's  Manual  of  American  Literature  is  a  companion  volume 
to  the  "  English  Literature,"  with  which  it  corresponds  in  general 
character  and  design.  It  is  intended  as  a  text-book  for  Colleges, 
and  as  a  book  of  reference. 

In  these  volumes  Prof.  Hart  has  embodied  the  matured  fruits  of 
his  life-long  studies  in  this  department  of  letters.  We  believe  they 
will  be  found  in  advance  of  any  other  text-books  on  the  subject,  in 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  plan,  the  freshness  of  much  of  the 
materials,  the  sound  judgment  shown  in  the  critical  opinions,  the 
clearness  with  which  the  several  topics  are  presented,  and  the  beauty 
as  well  as  the  practical  convenience  of  the  mechanical  arrangements. 

The  scholarly  culture  and  excellent  literary  judgment  displayed, 
entitle  these  books  to  a  high  place  among  the  works  on  English  liter- 
ature. The  plan  and  arrangement  present  many  novel  features, 
and  the  thoroughness  of  detail,  brevity  and  precision  of  statement, 
elegance  of  style,  and  soundness  of  opinion  which  characterize  the 
volumes,  call  for  the  sincerest  commendation. 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  HYGIENE.  A 

"    Text-Book  for  Schools,  Academies,  Colleges,  and 
Families.     By  Joseph  C.  Martindale,  M.D.,  late 
Principal  of  the  Madison  Grammar  School,  Phila- 
delphia.    Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  ;^i.3o. 
The  study  of  Physiology  and  the  Laws  of  Health  is  as  important 
as  it  is  interesting.     Its  importance  has  become  so  generally  recog- 
nized that  there  are  now  few  schools  in  which  it  does  not  occupy  a 
prominent  position  in  the  course  of  instruction.     Dr.  Martindale's 
Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  Hygiene  presents  the  following  claims 
to  the  consideration  of  teachers.     Technicalities  have  been  avoided, 
so  far  as  consistent  with  the  treatment  of  the  subject.     The  style  in 
which  it  is  written  is  not  only  pleasing,  but  such  as  to  he  readily 
comprehended  by  those  for  whose  use  it  is  designed.     Superfluous 
matter  has  been  omitted,  so  that  the  book  can  be  completed  in  a 
much  shorter  period  than  any  other  text-book  on  the  subject  as  yet 
published. 

Descriptive  circular  sent  on  application. 


riRST  LESSONS  IN  NATURAL  PHILOSOPHY. 

-''  For  Beginners.  By  Joseph  C.  Martindale,  M.D., 
late  Principal  of  the  Madison  Grammar  School. 
Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  60  cents. 

This  book  is  what  its  title  indicates,  **  First  Lessons  in  Natural 
Philosophy;"  and  it  presents  each  division  of  the  subject  in  such 
an  easy  and  familiar  style,  that  it  cannot  fail  to  interest  and  instruct 
any  child  of  ordinary  intelligence.  Beginning  as  it  does  in  a  simple 
and  easy  manner,  it  secures  the  interest  of  the  pupil  by  first  directing 
his  attention  to  objects  in  nature  with  which  he  is  familiar.  When 
the  interest  is  thus  excited,  the  subject  is  gradually  unfolded  by 
presenting,  one  after  another,  the  familiar  things  met  with  in  the 
every-day  walks  of  life ;  thus,  the  most  common  objects  are  made 
the  means  of  teaching  great  philosophical  truths.  Only  so  much 
of  the  subject  is  presented  as  can  be  taught  with  profit  in  our  public 
and  private  schools,  yet  what  has  been  given  will  be  found  to  em- 
brace all  the  more  common  phenomena  met  with  in  every-day  life. 
The  facts  are  so  clearly  and  so  plainly  set  forth,  that  they  are  en- 


9 

tirely  capable  of  comprehension  by  those  for  whose  use  and  benefit 
this  little  work  is  designed. 

Teachers  interested  in  the  "Object  Lesson"  system  of  teaching 
will  find  this  little  book  a  valuable  aid,  in  furnishing  subjects  for 
discussion. 

Circular  containing  specimen  pages,  &c.,  sent  to  any  address  on 
application. 

AN  ELEMENTARY  ALGEBRA,  FOR  SCHOOLS 

**  AND  ACADEMIES.  By  Joseph  W.  Wilson, 
A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Philadel- 
phia Central  High  School.  Price  by  mail,  post- 
paid, ^1.25. 

The  present  work  is  the  result  of  an  effort  to  produce  an  Ele- 
mentary Algebra  suited  to  the  wants  of  classes  commencing  the 
study.  It  has  been  prepared  by  one  who  for  years  has  felt  the  need 
of  just  such  a  book,  and  is  the  fruit  of  long  experience  in  the 
school-room. 

With  this  book  in  hand,  the  pupil  cannot  help  avoiding  the  diffi- 
culties which  invariably  present  themselves  at  the  very  threshold 
of  the  study  of  Algebra. 

The  great  aim,  throughout,  has  been  to  make  eveiything  as  plain 
as  the  nature  of  the  subject  would  permit.  There  is  a  continual 
review  and  repetition  of  whatever  has  been  learned.  Much  more 
attention  than  usual  has  been  given  to  Fractions,  as  a  drill  on  them 
is  believed  to  be  essential  to  a  full  comprehension  of  Algebraic 
operations,  and  a  ready  facility  in  performing  thetei. 

It  has  been  the  aim  to  give  such  a  presentation  of  the  subject  as 
will  meet  the  wants  of  Common  Schools  and  Academies.  It  is  an 
elementary  work,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  include  every- 
thing which  might  be  brought  under  the  head  of  Algebra.  The 
treatment  of  the  subject  is  on  the  principle  of  *'  step  by  step,"  so 
that  the  pupil  at  the  very  outset  is  inspired  with  a  degree  of  confi- 
dence which  induces  self-reliance;  rendering  unnecessary  a  con- 
stant application  to  the  teacher  for  help. 

The  book  is  commended  to  teachers  in  the  hope  that  it  will  satisfy 
a  need  which  the  author  has  himself  frequently  felt. 

Descriptive  circular  sent  on  application. 


THE    CRITTENDEN     COMMERCIAL    ARITH- 
'■    METIC  AND  BUSINESS  MANUAL    Designed 

for  the  Use  of  Teachers,  Business  Men,  Academies, 
High  Schools,  and  Commercial  Colleges.     By  John 
Groesbeck,  Consulting  Accountant,  and  Principal 
of  Crittenden's  Philadelphia  Commercial  College. 
Price  by  mail,  post-paid,  ^1.50. 
In  every  High  School  and  Academy  in  the  land,  the  organization 
of  a  class  in  Commercial  Arithmetic,  Business    Calculations    and 
Forms,  will  prove  an  element  of  popularity  and  success  that  will 
yield  rich  results.     The  subject  itself  is  so  intrinsically  valuable  as 
a  means  of  developing  thought,  that,  were  this  the  only  result  to  be 
gained,  it  would  be  entitled  to  and  should  receive  the  special  atten- 
tion of  the  progressive  teacher.     But  apart  from  this,  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  study  so  interesting  in  itself,  so  attractive  to  the  scholar, 
and  having  so  direct  a  bearing  on  his  future  welfare,  will,  in  many 
an  instance,  decide  the  welfare  of  a  school,  directing  the  channel 
of  popular  opinion  in  its  favor,  and  prove  the  means  of  filling  it 
with  students  anxious  to  secure  its  advantages. 

Circulars  containing  full  descriptive  notice,  testimonials,  &c.,  will 
be  sent  to  any  address  on  application. 

A    MANUAL  OF  ELOCUTION.     Founded  upon  the 

*^    Philosophy  of  the  Human  Voice,  with    Classified 

Illustrations,   Suggested  by  and  Arranged  to  meet 

the  Practical  Difficulties  of  Instruction.     By  M.  S. 

Mitchell.     Price  by  mail,  post-paid,  ^1.50. 

SUBJECTS    TREATED    OF. 

Articulation,  Pronunciation,  Accent,  Emphasis,  Modulation, 
Melody  of  Speech,  Pitch,  Tone,  Inflections,  Sense,  Cadence,  Force, 
Stress,  Grammatical  and  Rhetorical  Pauses,  Movement,  Reading 
of  Poetry,  Action,  Attitude,  Analysis  of  the  Principles  of  Gestures, 
and  Oratory. 

The  compiler  cannot  conceal  the  hope  that  this  glimpse  of  our 
general  literature  may  tempt  to  individual  research  among  its  treas- 
ures, so  varied  and  inexhaustible;  —  that    this    text-book   for   the 


II 

school-room  may  become  not  only  teacher,  but  friend,  to  those  in 
whose  hands  it  is  placed,  and  while  aiding,  through  systematic  de- 
velopment and  training  of  the  elocutionary  powers  of  the  pupil,  to 
overcome  many  of  the  practical  difficulties  of  instruction,  may 
accomplish  a  higher  work  in  the  cultivation  and  refinement  of 
character. 

THE  MODEL  SPEAKER:  Consisting  of  Exercises 
in  Prose,  Poetry,  and  Blank  Verse,  Suitable  for 
Declamation,  Public  Readings,  School  Exhibitions, 
&c.  Compiled  for  the  Use  of  Schools,  Academies, 
Colleges,  and  Private  Classes,  by  Prof.  Philip 
Lawrence.     Price  by  mail,  post-paid,  ^1.50. 

The  book  is  printed  on  superfine,  tinted  paper,  and  handsomely 
and  durably  bound  in  fine  English  cloth,  with  bevelled  sides.  For 
variety  and  freshness  of  selections,  beauty  of  mechanical  execution, 
and  economy  in  price,  it  is  unequalled  by  any  similar  work  extant. 

Great  care  has  been  taken  to  consult  the  authorized  editions  of 
the  various  writers  represented,  that  the  extracts  from  their  works 
may  be  relied  upon  as  accurate ;  though,  in  some  instances,  pre- 
ference has  been  given  to  an  early  edition,  when,  in  later  issues, 
the  alterations  have  not  been  deemed  improvements.  Many  poems 
have  been  introduced  which  have  never  before  found  their  way  into 
any  book  of  selections,  being  now  for  the  first  time  published  in 
this  country  in  a  permanent  form. 

It  is  believed  that  this  book  will  be  found  admirably  adapted  for 
use  as  a  "Reader,"  either  in  connection  with  any  of  the  regular 
series  of  reading  books,  or  to  be  taken  up  by  classes  that,  having 
used  the  higher  readers  of  the  different  series,  need  variety  as  an 
incentive  to  interest.  For  this  purpose  we  particularly  commend 
it  to  the  attention  of  Principals  of  Academies,  Seminaries,  High 
Schools,  Normal  Schools,  and  Institutions  for  Young  Ladies. 

Descriptive  Circular,  containing  entire  List  of  Contents,  sent  to 
any  address  on  application. 


THE  MODEL  DEFINER.     An  Elementary  Book  for 
■^      Beginners,  containing  Definitions,  Etymology,  and 
Sentences  as  Models,  exhibiting  the  correct  use  of 
Words.     By  A.   C.   Webb.     Price  by  mail,  post- 
paid, 25  cents. 

THE  MODEL  ETYMOLOGY.     Giving  not  only  the 
*      Definitions,  Etymology,  and  Analysis,  but  also  that 
which  can  be  obtained  only  from  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  best  authors,  viz. :   the  correct 
use  of  Words.     With  a  Key  containing  the  analysis 
of  every  word  which  could  present  any  difficulties 
to  the  learner.     By  A.  C.  Webb.     Price  by  mail, 
post-paid,  60  cents. 
The  plan  adopted  in  the  Model  Definer  and  Model  Etymology  is 
not  new.     All  good  Dictionaries  illustrate  the  meaning  by  a  Model. 
To  quote  from  a  good  author,  a  sentence  containing  the  word,  as 
proof  of  its  correct  use,  is  the  only  authority  allowed.     A  simple 
trial  of  the  work,  either  by  requiring  the  child  to  form  sentences 
similar  to  those  given,  or  by  memorizing  the  sentences  as  models 
for  future  use,  will  convince  any  one  of  the  following  advantages  to 
be  derived  from  the  Model  Word-Book  Series. 

1.  Saving  of  time. 

2.  Increased  knowledge  of  words. 

3.  Ease  to  teacher  and  scholar. 

4.  A  knowledge  of  the  correct  use  of  words. 

Descriptive  Circular  sent  on  application. 

MARTINDALE'S   HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES.  From  the  Discovery  of  America  to  the 
close  of  the  late  Rebellion.  By  Joseph  C.  Mar- 
TiNDALE,  M.D.,  Principal  of  the  Madison  Grammar 
School,  Philadelphia.  Price  by  mail,  post-paid, 
60  cents. 


1.3 

With  this  book  in  his  hand,  the  scholar  can  in  a  single  school 
term  obtain  as  complete  a  knowledge  of  the  History  of  ihe  United 
States  as  has  heretofore  required  double  the  time  and  effort. 

Descriptive  circular  sent  on  application. 

THE  YOUNG   STUDENT'S   COMPANION;    or, 

Elementary  Lessons  and  Exercises  in  Translating 
from  English  into  French.  By  M.  A.  Longstreth, 
Principal  of  a  Seminary  for  Young  Ladies,  Phila- 
delphia.    Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  ^i.oo. 

TABLES  OF  LATIN  SUFFIXES.     Designed  as  an 

■*•  Aid  to  tl^  Study  of  the  Latin  Grammar.  By  Amos 
N.  Currier,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Latin  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Iowa.     In  Preparation. 

A    FRENCH  VERB  BOOK  ;  or,  the  Naw  Expositor 
**■    of  Verbs  in  French.     By  Ernest  Lagarde,  A.M., 
Professor  of  Modern  Languages  in  Mount  St.  Mary's 
College.     Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  ^i.oo. 
Lagarde's  French  Verb  Book  embraces  a  comprehensive  analysis 
of  the  conjugations,  a  new  method  for  the  formation  and  use  of  the 
tenses,  and  a  complete  paradigm  of  all  the  verbs,  the  whole  ex- 
plained and  exemplified  by  full  illustrations.     It  is  believed  that 
the  book  will  be  found  a  valuable  aid  to  the  study  of  the  French 
language. 

rOMPENDIUM  OF  FRENCH  RULES.    A  Com- 

^  pendium  of  the  Grammatical  Rules  of  the  French 
Language.  By  F.  A.  Bregy,  A.M.,  Professor  of 
French  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

IN  THREE  PARTS. 

PART  FIRST.     Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  75  cents. 
PART  SECOND.  "  "  50      " 

PART  THIRD.     In  Preparation. 


14 
These  hand-books  can  be  advantageously  used  in  connection  with 
any  system.  T!iey  lead  the  student  from  the  first  elements  of  the 
language  to  and  through  the  principal  rules  of  the  French  Syntax, 
enabling  him,  in  a  short  time,  to  master  intelligently  what  otherwise 
would  prove  a  tedious  and  difficult  task, 

C  ELECTIONS 'FOR  LITTLE  FOLKS.    A  Book  of 

^  Poetical  Selections  for  Children.  Price  by  mail, 
postpaid,  50  cents. 

That  sympathy  which  loves  to  link  the  present  with  the  past,  has 
prompted  the  preparation  of  this  volume.  Simply  to  make  a  child 
glad,  is  a  worthy  motive  for  storing  its  mind  with  poetic  utterances, 
especially  when  the  remembrance  of  such  happiness  becomes  a 
well-spring  of  delight  for  a  lifetime. 

This  little  book  is  intended  for  children  not  more  than  nine  or 
ten  years  of  age,  and  the  compiler  would  feel  it  a  good  excuse  for 
adding  another  book  to  those  already  extant,  should  the  little  ones 
find  pleasure  in  it. 

IN   THE   SCHOOL-ROOM  ;    or,  Chapters   in  the 

■■■      Philosophy  of   Education.     By   John  S.  Hart, 

LL.D.,    Principal    of    New    Jersey    State    Normal 

School.     Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  $1.25. 

This  work  gives  the  results  of  the  experience  and  observation 

of  the  author  "in  the  School-room  "  for  a  period  of  years  extending 

over  more  than  one-third  of  a  century. 

No  teacher  can  afford  to  be  without  it. 
It  is  a  teacher's  library  in  a  single  book. 
Descriptive  circular  sent  on  application. 

THE  MODEL  ROLL-BOOK,  No.  1.    For  the  Use 

■*■  of  Schools.  Containing  a  Record  of  Attendance, 
Punctuality,  Deportment,  Orthography,  Reading, 
Penmanship,  Intellectual  Arithmetic,  Practical  Arith- 
metic, Geography,  Grammar,  Analysis,  Parsing  and 
History,  and  several  blanks  for  special  studies  not 
enumerated.     Price  by  mail,  postpaid,  ^5.00. 


THE 


i6 

MODEL  MONTHLY  REPORT.  The  general 
character  of  the  Monthly  Report  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Model  School  Diary,  excepting  that  it  is  in- 
tended for  a  Monthly  instead  of  a  Weekly  Report  of 
the  Attendance,  Recitations,  &c.,  of  the  Pupil. 
Copies  will  be  mailed  to  teachers  for  examination, 
postpaid,  on  receipt  of  ten  cents.  Price  per  dozen, 
by  mail,  postpaid,  ^1.05. 

DOOK- KEEPING  BLANKS.  Consisting  of  six 
*^  blank  books,  as  follows:  Day  Book,  Cash  Book, 
Ledger,  Journal,  Bill  Book,  and  Book  for  Miscel- 
laneous Exercises.  Price  for  each  book  by  mail, 
postpaid,  15  cents;  or  the  entire  set  of  six  books  by 
mail,  postpaid,  90  cents. 

These  books  have  been  prepared  as  a  matter  of  practical  con- 
venience for  students  in  Book-keeping.  They  can  be  used  with  any 
treatise,  and  will  be  sold  singly  or  in  sets,  as  may  be  desired. 

Teachers  corresponding  with  us  are  requested  to  supply  us  with 
a  copy  of  the  circular  or  catalogue  of  the  school  of  which  they  are 
the  Principal,  or  with  vi^hich  they  are  connected. 

Descriptive  circulars  of  all  our  publications  will  be  sent  to  any 
address  on  application. 

Please  address, 

ELDRKDGE  &  BROTHER, 

No.  17  North  Seventh  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


J 


'\^^ 


--?->>.* 


543457 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


